THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER 
EDUCATION 


BY 


WILLIAM  RAINEY  HARPER     If^S^^  /^A^ 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


Oh  TKt  \ 

UNIVERSITY  I 


OF 


CHICAGO 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 

1905 


t 


^HZHjii 


COPYRIGHT   1905 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


J,    ^/^^ 


March,  1905 


i 


I 


TO 

FRANK  FROST  ABBOTT 

AND 

HARRY  PRATT  JUDSON 

MY  ASSOCIATES  DURING  THE  YEAR   OF  PREPARATION  FOR  THE 
OPENING  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 

AND 

WILLIAM  GARDNER  HALE 

THE  FIRST  TO  CAST  HIS  LOT  WITH  THE  UNIVERSITY 
AS  HEAD  OF  A  DEPARTMENT 


4i 


PREFACE 

There  need  be  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  in 
the  present  times  there  is  a  trend  in  higher  educa- 
tion. Nor  is  it  difficult  to  point  out  some  of  the 
more  conspicuous  elements  which  characterize  the 
movement  that  is  taking  place  before  our  eyes. 
The  philosophy  of  it  is  something  more  difficult  to 
formulate.  Indeed,  such  formulation  cannot  be  ex- 
pected for  a  long  time.  Meanwhile  it  only  remains 
to  study  the  various  features  which,  from  time  to 
time,  present  themselves,  and  to  indicate  their  in- 
dividual significance. 

If  a  unity  of  purpose  exists  in  the  several  papers 
collected  in  this  volume,  it  will  be  found  in  the  effort 
made  to  point  out  this  trend  in  some  of  the  higher 
educational  movements  of  the  day.  I  have  not 
undertaken  to  note  all  of  these  features,  nor,  indeed, 
any  considerable  number  of  them,  for  the  field  is 
illimitable.  Nor  have  I  proposed  to  classify  these 
elements  as  a  basis  for  generalization.  Some  such 
work  as  this  may  be  undertaken  later.  I  have  tried 
only  to  make  a  record  of  observations  here  and  there 
which  may  perhaps  contribute  something  to  a  pre- 
view of  the  tendency  of  things  in  this  great  field  of 
intellectual  activity. 

Without  waiting  for  a  technical  formulation  of 
the  significance  of  these  facts,  it  is  clear  that  every- 


viii  PREFACE 

thing  points  in  one  direction,  namely,  toward  the 
growing  democratization  of  higher  educational  work. 
In  this  respect  a  comparison  of  the  situation  today 
with  that  of  one  or  two  centuries  ago  reveals  differ- 
ences so  great  that  one  is  at  a  loss  to  explain  them 
on  the  basis  of  evolution.  It  would  almost  seem  at 
the  first  glance  that  a  complete  revolution  had  taken 
place;  but  a  closer  study  of  the  facts  convinces  one 
that  here  as  everywhere  change  has  come  step  by 
step,  and  that  it  will  go  on  step  by  step.  Moreover, 
one  cannot  imagine  that  a  time  will  ever  come  when 
these  forward  steps  will  cease  to  be  taken.  Changes 
are  taking  place  today  which  could  not  have  been 
dreamed  of  fifty  years  ago,  and  the  question  may 
be  seriously  raised  whether  in  all  this  we  are  not 
moving  at  too  rapid  a  pace.  It  surely  can  neither 
be  expected  nor  desired  that  we  should  always  move 
at  the  present  rapid  rate  of  speed. 

It  is  not  without  a  considerable  feeling  of  dis- 
trust in  the  value  of  these  papers  that  I  bring  them 
together  into  a  volume  and  offer  them  as  a  contribu- 
tion in  a  small  way  toward  a  statement  of  the  edu- 
cational questions  current  in  our  day.  I  have  done 
so  only  because  some  seemed  to  receive  help  from 
them  at  the  time  they  were  originally  presented; 
and  because  it  appeared  to  me  that,  placed  together, 
they  might  serve  as  a  notebook  in  the  great  educa- 
tional laboratory  of  which  all  such  effort  forms  a 
part.  It  is  only  by  noting  down  here  and  there  our 
observations  and  impressions,  and  by  putting  these 


PREFACE  ix 

in  a  form  in  which  they  may  be  compared  with  the 
observations  and  impressions  of  others  that  we  may 
really  make  progress.  If  even  a  small  service  shall 
have  been  rendered,  the  result  will  have  justified  the 
effort  made. 

I  am  under  obligations  to  The  Century  Company 
for  permission  to  repubhsh  the  article  "Alleged 
Luxury  among  College  Students;''  to  Messrs. 
Harper  &  Brothers  for  permission  to  use  the  articles 
first  published  in  their  various  magazines  {The 
North  American  Review,  etc.),  on  ** Coeducation," 
"University  Training  for  a  Business  Career," 
"Higher  Education  in  the  West,"  and  "Should 
Athletics  be  Endowed  ? "  to  The  Curtis  PubHshing 
Company  for  permission  to  use  the  article  "The 
Business  Management  of  a  University;"  to  John 
Brisben  Walker  for  permission  to  use  the  article 
"The  University  and  Democracy;"  and  to  The 
World  To-Day  Company  for  permission  to  use  the 
articles  "Are  School-Teachers -Underpaid?"  and 
"  Why  Are  There  Fewer  Students  for  the  Ministry  ?  " 
William  Rainey  Harper. 

February  22,  1905. 


I 


ik^ 


CONTENTS 

I  

'  J 

The  University  and  Democracy i       \y  / 

n 

^    Some  Present  Tendencies  of  Popular  Education      35 

m 

The  University  and  Religious  Education   ...      55 

"^   Waste  in  Higher  Education 78   ^^ 

V 

^    The  Old  and  the  New  in  Education      ....    118  N. 

VI 

"^    Dependence  of  the  West  upon  the  East    .    .    .    135 

^    Higher  Education  in  the  West 140 

VIII 
^The  Contribution  of  Johns  Hopkins 151 

IX 

The  Urban  University 156' 

X 

The  Business  Side  of  a  University 161 

!  XI 

Are  School-Teachers  Underpaid? 186 

xi 


I, 


xu  CONTENTS 

XII 

Why  Are  There  Fewer  Students  for  the  Min- 
istry?      195       1 

XIII  I 

The  Theological  Seminary  in  its  Civic  Relation-  ' 

SHIP 207 

XIV 

Shall  the  Theological  Curriculum  be  Modified, 

and  How? 234 

XV 

University  Training  for  a  Business  Career    .    .    268       *^ 

XVI 

Shall  College  Athletics  be  Endowed?  ....    276 

XVII 

Latin  versus  Science 285 

XVIII 
Coeducation 294 

XIX 

Alleged  Luxury  among  College  Students  .    .    .    312 

XX 

The  Scientific  Study  of  the  Student      .    .    .    .    317 

XXI 

The  College  Officer  and  the  College  Student     327 

XXII 
/      The  Length  of  the  College  Course       •    ...    338 

XXIII 
The  Situation  of  the  Small  College      ....    349 


^     OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY   I 

OF  _       / 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY  ^ 

If  education  and  government  sustain  relation- 
ship each  to  the  other,  the  highest  in  education  must 
have  to  do  with  the  highest  in  government.  If 
national  enlightenment  contributes  to  a  better  and 
higher  national  life,  the  state's  chief  agent  for  its 
proper  guidance  must  be  a  potent  factor  in  its  public 
life.  If  humanity,  in  its  slow  and  tortuous  progress 
toward  a  higher  civilization,  counts  as  its  ally  a 
power  by  which,  one  by  one,  the  problems  of  that 
civiHzation  are  resolved,  humanity  and  this  allied 
power  must  in  due  time  come  to  have  interests  and 
aspirations  which  bind  them  irrevocably  together. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  University  is  an  institution 
of  the  government,  the  guide  of  the  people,  and  an 
ally  of  humanity  in  its  struggle  for  advancement; 
and  on  the  other.  Democracy  is  the  highest  ideal  of 
human  achievement,  the  only  possibility  of  a  true 
national  life,  the  glorious  and  golden  sun  lighting 
up  the  dark  places  of  all  the  world. 

The  word  "university"  does  not  suggest  the  same 
idea  to  everyone  who  hears  or  speaks  it.  Some- 
times it  stands  for  "college,"  and  rightly  so;  for 
the  college,  like  the  university  (I  give  the  usual 
dictionary  definition),   is   "an  association  of  men 

I  Charter  Day  address,  1899,  at  the  University  of  California. 
Copyright,  1899,  by  John  Brisben  Walker. 


2         THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

for  th^  purpose  of  study."  Sometimes  it  means 
everytlidji'g, ''Sometimes  nothing.  But  whatever  else 
itmay:or:n;^y"not  suggest,  we  may  not  overlook  the 
peculiar  circumstances  in  connection  with  which  it 
had  its  origin. 

The  sixth  century  A.  D.  witnessed  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Roman  schools,  which  had  represented 
the  older,  pagan  education.  By  the  twelfth  century 
the  church  schools,  connected  with  monasteries 
and  cathedrals,  and  devoted  exclusively  to  ecclesi- 
astical work,  had  reached  their  highest  stage  of 
development.  Three  points  connected  with  the 
origin  of  the  university  still  continue  to  character- 
ize it.  The  earliest  history  of  the  first  universities 
shows  that  they  were  guilds  or  associations  of  men, 
organized  in  large  measure  for  self-protection. 
Here,  in  fact,  was  the  beginning  of  that  spirit  which 
now  pervades  every  class  or  trade  of  men.  These 
associations  were  "spontaneous  confederations," 
at  times  of  "aliens  on  a  foreign  soil,"  at  other  times 
of  natives,  and  in  still  other  cases  of  the  two  com- 
bined. The  rector  was  chosen  by  the  students, 
and  under  his  leadership  they  secured  from  the  com- 
munity privileges  which  as  individuals  they  were 
denied,  and  they  compelled  even  the  professors  to 
be  deferential.  The  university  had  its  birth  in  the 
democratic  idea;  and  from  the  day  of  its  birth  this 
democratic  character,  except  when  state  or  church 
has  interfered,  has  continued.  What,  in  many 
instances,  has  seemed  the  lawlessness  of  students 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY  3 

and  the  independence  of  instructors  is  to  be  con- 
sidered from  the  point  of  view  of  the  democratic 
spirit  which  gave  birth  to  the  university  and  has 
characterized  every  true  university.  In  no  other 
sphere,  moreover,  did  men  of  different  nationalities 
mingle  together  more  freely. 

A  second  factor  was  the  necessity  of  securing 
opportunity  for  study  in  lines  outside  the  range  of 
ecclesiastical  schools,  especially  law  and  medicine, 
but  in  large  measure  also  the  arts.  This  is  seen  in 
the  fact  that  such  instruction  was  given  in  the  earli- 
est universities;  for  example,  medicine  at  Salerno 
in  the  ninth  century;  and  Hkewise  in  the  secular 
and  catholic  character  of  the  university  community, 
for  in  the  university  at  Salerno,  "at  a  time  when 
Jews  were  the  object  of  reHgious  persecution  through- 
out Europe,  members  of  this  nationality  were  to  be 
found,  both  as  teachers  and  learners."  This  secu- 
lar character  has  at  times  been  overclouded  when 
the  church  (as  in  the  history  of  the  English  uni- 
versities) or  a  denomination  has  seen  fit  to  lay  its 
hand  ruthlessly  upon  the  university;  but  in  such 
cases  it  always  happens  that  the  university  ceases 
to  exist,  and  a  church  school  takes  its  place.  That 
institution  cannot  become  a  university,  or  remain 
one,  which  to  any  considerable  extent  is  controlled 
by  a  power  other  than  that  which  proceeds  from 
within  itself.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  neither 
church  nor  state  seems  at  first  to  have  appreciated 
what  was  coming,  since  the  first  four  universities 


4  THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  Italy,  after  Bologna,  rose  into  existence,  like 
Bologna  itself,  without  a  charter  from  either  pope 
or  emperor. 

But  again,  the  university  had  its  origin  in  the 
desire  to  make  use  of  new  methods  of  instruction, 
whereby  greater  independence  of  expression  and 
thought  might  be  secured.  In  the  schools  of  the 
church  there  had  never  been  an  opportunity  to 
argue;  that  is,  to  discuss  different  opinions.  The 
method  had  been  very  simple,  to  be  sure,  yet  very 
monotonous.  The  instructor  gave  that  which  he 
had  been  given ;  the  pupil  received  it  as  it  had  come 
down  the  centuries.  This  method  is  still  in  vogue 
in  some  institutions  which  are  under  ecclesiastical 
control.  But  in  the  birth  period  of  the  university 
the  revival  of  the  study  of  logic  gave  rise  to  the  intro- 
duction of  a  new  spirit  which,  although  exaggerated 
and  made  absurd  in  some  forms  of  its  development, 
nevertheless  freed  the  work  of  instruction  from  the 
one  deadly  and  deadening  method  of  the  past  and 
made  possible,  in  later  centuries,  the  freedom  of 
expression  which  is  today  the  most  distinctive  mark 
of  a  real  university. 

The  three  birth-marks  of  a  university  are,  there- 
fore, self-government,  freedom  from  ecclesiastical 
control,  and  the  right  of  free  utterance.  And  these 
certainly  give  it  the  right  to  proclaim  itseK  an  insti- 
tution of  the  people,  an  institution  born  of  the  demo- 
cratic spirit. 

Such  being  its  origin,   we  may  ask  ourselves 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY  5 

whether  it  has  essentially  changed  its  nature  in  the 
development  through  which  ten  or  more  centuries 
have  carried  it.  The  proper  restriction  of  the  term 
must,  however,  be  first  appHed.  What  is  a  uni 
versity  today  ?  I  accept,  with  modification,  a  com- 
mon definition:  a  self-governing  association  of  men 
for  the  purpose  of  study;  an  institution  privileged 
by  the  state  for  the  guidance  of  the  people;  an 
agency  recognized  by  the  people  for  resolving  the 
problems  of  civilization  which  present  themselves 
in  the  development  of  civiHzation.  According  to 
this  definition,  therefore,  only  those  institutions 
are  universities  in  which  adults  are  associated  (thus 
excluding  elementary  and  secondary  schools,  and 
Hkewise  colleges  conducted  for  the  training  of  boys 
and  girls  in  various  stages  of  advancement);  in 
which  definite  and  distinct  effort  is  put  forth  to 
guide  the  people  in  the  decision  of  questions  which 
from  time  to  time  confront  them,  and  to  furnish 
leaders  in  the  different  callings  in  whom  the  people 
may  have  full  confidence;  in  which  facilities  are 
furnished  and  encouragement  afforded  to  grapple 
with  the  great  problems  of  Hfe  and  thought,  in  the 
worlds  of  matter  and  of  mind,  with  the  sole  purpose 
of  discovering  truth,  whatever  bearing  that  dis- 
covery may  have  upon  other  supposed  truth.  This 
requires  men  of  the  greatest  genius,  equipment  of 
the  highest  order,  and  absolute  freedom  from  inter- 
ference of  any  kind,  civic  or  ecclesiastical.  . ^ 

In  this  connection  it  is  worth  while  to  note  Thomas 


6         THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Jefferson's  conception  of  the  functions  of  the  Uni- 
versity: 

(i)  To  form  the  statesmen,  legislators,  and  judges,  on 
whom  public  prosperity  and  individual  happiness  are  so 
much  to  depend;  (2)  to  expound  the  principles  and  structure 
of  government,  the  laws  which  regulate  the  intercourse  of 
nations,  those  formed  principally  for  our  own  government, 
in  a  sound  spirit  of  legislation,  which,  banishing  all  unneces- 
sary restraint  on  individual  action,  shall  leave  us  free  to  do 
whatever  does  not  violate  the  equal  rights  of  another;  (3)  to 
harmonize  and  promote  the  interests  of  agriculture,  manu- 
factures, and  commerce,  and  by  well-informed  views  of  politi- 
cal economy  to  give  a  free  scope  to  the  public  industry;  (4)  to 
develop  the  reasoning  faculties  of  our  youth,  to  enlarge  their 
minds,  cultivate  their  morals,  and  instil  into  them  the  prin- 
ciples of  virtue  and  order;  (5)  to  enlighten  them  with  mathe- 
matical and  physical  sciences,  which  advance  the  arts,  and 
administer  to  the  health,  the  subsistence,  and  comforts  of 
human  life;  (6)  and  generally  to  form  them  to  habits  of  re- 
flection and  correct  action,  rendering  them  examples  of  virtue 
to  others,  and  of  happiness  within  themselves. 

The  university  is  naturally  the  seat  of  the  highest 
educational  work;  but  again  the  word  "highest" 
requires  definition.  It  is  the  highest  function  of 
the  university  to  prepare  leaders  and  teachers  for 
every  field  of  activity.  It  will  include,  therefore, 
the  work  of  the  college,  the  secondary  school,  and 
the  elementary  school  (with  the  kindergarten  work), 
if  this  work  is  conducted  either,  on  the  one  hand,  as 
practice  work  in  connecti(5n  with  which  teachers  may 
be  trained,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  as  laboratory  work 
in  connection  with  which  effort  is  being  made  to 


( 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY  7 

work  out  the  solution  of  important  problems,  or  to 
secure  a  more  perfect  type  of  work.  The  sympa- 
thies of  the  true  university  will  be  so  broad  as  to 
bring  it  into  touch  with  educational  problems  of 
every  kind. 

The  university  is,  further,  an  integral  part  of  the 
public-school  system.  The  state,  by  granting  its 
charter,  makes  it  a  pubHc  institution,  whether  itS/ 
support  comes  from  the  state  itself  or  from  private 
funds.  As  a  public  institution,  it  may  not  detach 
itself  from  the  various  forms  of  educational  or  legis- 
lative work  conducted  under  state  patronage.  Its 
ideals  control  the  development  of  all  that  falls 
below  it.  The  university,  therefore,  may  not  stand 
aloof;  nor  may  the  colleges  and  schools  shut  them- 
selves away  from  its  strong  and  revivifying  influence. 
There  may  be  no  organic  connection.  In  most 
cases  such  organic  connection  is  unnecessary.  The 
bond  is  spiritual,  and  as  such  stronger  than  merely 
formal  connection  could  possibly  become. 

The  university  is  also  an  institution  of  the  people,  i/ 
It  must,  therefore,  be  "privileged"  and,  in  many 
instances,  supported  by  the  people.  In  the  latter 
case,  it  must  be  influenced  by  the  changes  which 
the  people  may  undergo  in  their  opinions.  But 
the  people  must  remember  that  when,  for  any 
reason,  the  administration  of  their  institution,  or 
the  instruction  in  any.  dt^e  of  its  departments,  is 
changed  by  an  influence  from  without,  whenever 
effort  is  made  to  dislodge  an  officer  or  a  professor 


\  ' 


\y 


8  THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

because  the  political  sentiment  of  the  majority  has 
undergone  a  change,  at  that  moment  the  insti- 
tution has  ceased  to  be  a  university;  and  it  cannot 
again  take  its  place  in  the  rank  of  universities  so 
long  as  there  continues  to  exist  to  any  appreciable 
extent  the  factor  of  coercion.  The  state  has  no 
more  right  than  the  church  to  interfere  with  the 
search  for  truth,  or  with  its  promulgation  when 
found.  The  state  and  church  alike  may  have  their 
own  schools  and  colleges  for  the  training  of  youth- 
ful minds,  and  for  the  propagation  of  special  kinds 
of  inteUigence;  and  in  these  it  may  choose  what 
special  coloring  shall  be  given  to  the  instruction. 
This  is  proper,  for  example,  in  the  military  schools 
of  the  state,  and  in  the  theological  schools  of  the 
church.  But  such  schools  are  not  universities. 
They  do  not  represent  the  people;  they  do  not 
come  out  of  the  people. 

The  university  touches  life,  every  phase  of  life, 
at  every  point.  It  enters  into  every  field  of  thought 
to  which  the  human  mind  addresses  itself.  It  has 
no  fixed  abode  far  away  from  man;  for  it  goes  to 
those  who  cannot  come  to  it.  It  is  shut  in  behind 
no  lofty  battlement;  for  it  has  no  enemy  which  it 
would  ward  off.  Strangely  enough,  it  vanquishes 
its  enemies  by  inviting  them  into  close  association 
with  itself.  The  university  is  of  the  people,  and 
for  the  people,  whether  considered  individually  or 
collectively. 

Democracy  means,   in  general,   the  supren^acy 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY  9 

of  the  people,  government  for  and  by  those  governed, 
co-operative  government.  The  democracy  of  Greece, 
and  the  democracy  of  a  century  ago  in  our  own  land, 
were  stages  in  the  evolution  which  has  been  taking 
place  from  the  beginning  of  man's  history  on  earth. 
Wherever  the  industrial  spirit  has  prevailed,  as 
opposed  to  the  predatory,  this  evolution  still  con- 
tinues, and  will  continue  until  it  includes  within  its 
grasp  the  entire  world. 

The  essential  principles  in  democracy  are  equality 
and  responsibility  to  the  public  will.  Opposed  to 
these  stand  the  class  system  and  absolutism.  Every- 
where and  during  all  time  the  struggle  has  gone 
slowly  on;  and  democracy  has  surely  made  her 
way,  and,  absorbing  from  her  enemy  all  that  was 
good,  she  stands  today  more  firmly  and  more  tri- 
umphantly secure  than  ever  before. 

Democracy  is  a  government  in  which  the  last 
appeal  is  to  the  public  will;  but  the  judge  to  whom 
the  final  appeal  may  be  made  must  be  an  inteUigent 
and  educated  judge.  The  people  must  be  an  edu- 
cated people.  Education,  indeed,  must  be  the  first 
and  foremost  pohcy  of  democracy.  It  is  the  founda- 
tion which  underlies  all  else.  No  advocate  of  de- 
mocracy today  would  accept  Rousseau's  opinion 
that  the  people  have  in  themselves  an  innate  and 
instinctive  wisdom.  All  will  agree  with  Lord  Arthur 
Russell,  that  **the  multiplicity  of  ignorance  does 
not  give  wisdom." 

How,  then,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  shall  a  democracy 


lo        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

administer  itself?  By  accepting  the  guidance  of 
those  who  have  been  prepared  to  lead,  and  by  hold- 
ing them  responsible  for  the  trust  confided  to  them. 
Mr.  Gladstone,  whose  life  was  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  the  Liberal  party,  once  said:  "The  nation 
draws  a  great,  perhaps  the  greatest,  part  of  its  light 
from  the  minority  placed  above;"    and  elsewhere: 

The  people  are  of  necessity  unfit  for  the  rapid,  multi- 
farious action  of  the  administrative  mind;  unfurnished  with 
the  ready,  elastic,  and  extended,  if  superficial,  knowledge 
which  the  work  of  government,  in  this  country  beyond  all 
others,  demands;  destitute  of  that  acquaintance  with  the 
world,  with  the  minds  and  tempers  of  men,  with  the  arts  of 
occasion  and  opportunity,  in  fact  with  the  whole  doctrine  of 
circumstance,  which,  lying  outside  the  matter  of  political 
plans  and  propositions,  nevertheless  frequently  determines 
not  the  policy  alone,  but  the  duty  of  propounding  them.  No 
people  of  a  magnitude  to  be  called  a  nation  has  ever,  in  strict- 
ness, governed  itself;  the  utmost  which  appears  to  be  attain- 
able, under  the  conditions  of  human  life,  is  that  it  should 
choose  its  governors,  and  that  it  should,  on  select  occasions, 
bear  directly  on  their  action.  History  shows  how  rarely 
even  this  point  has  in  any  considerable  manner  been  attained. 
It  is  written  in  legible  characters,  and  with  a  pen  of  iron,  on 
the  rock  of  human  destiny,  that  within  the  domain  of  practi- 
cal politics  the  people  must,  in  the  main,  be  passive. 

And  in  such  a  scheme  education  plays  an  impor- 
tant part,  both  with  the  people  and  with  those  to 
whom  they  commit  the  guidance. 

Democracy  has  nothing  to  do  with  religion,  and 
yet  it  has  everything;  nothing  with  the  specific 
form  in  which  the  rehgious  feeling  or  religious  teach- 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         ii 

ing  shall  express  itself,  but  everything  in  making 
provision  for  the  undisturbed  exercise  of  religious 
liberty.  Where  dense  ignorance  exists,  there  is 
no  demand  for  such  liberty.  It  is  only  where  in- 
telligence asserts  itself,  when  education  has  done 
its  work,  that  the  privilege  of  reHgious  freedom  is 
demanded.  With  the  church  as  such,  democracy 
knows  no  relation;  with  morality  and  righteousness 
in  individual  and  nation,  democracy  is  deeply  con- 
cerned. Religion  itself  does  not  always  conduce 
to  morality  and  righteousness,  nor  is  intelligence 
in  every  case  a  guarantee.  But  enlightenment  of 
mind  and  soul,  whatever  be  the  single  or  joint  agency 
that  produces  it,  is  the  only  safeguard  against  that 
which  is  demoralizing  and  degrading.  Education, 
therefore,  in  connection  with  religion,  becomes  a 
factor  in  securing  for  democracy  the  very  food  on 
which  its  life  depends. 

With  so  much  for  definition  of  terms,  let  me 
now  pass  to  the  question  I  desire  to  answer:  What 
relation  does  the  university  sustain  to  democracy? 
It  may  be  considered  either  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  university  or  that  of  the  democracy.  What  part 
then  is  the  university  to  play  in  the  great  drama  of 
co-operative  government  ?  What  contribution  toward 
its  growth  and  further  evolution  may  self-govern- 
ment expect  to  receive  from  the  university? 

I  trust  that  I  may  be  pardoned  at  this  point  if 
for  a  moment  I  digress.  As  a  student,  for  many 
years,  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  thoughts  and  the 


12        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

forms  of  thought  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  have  made 
deep  impressions  on  my  mind.  In  the  course  of 
their  long-continued  history  they  passed  through 
nearly  every  form  of  life,  from  that  of  savages  to 
that  of  highest  civilization,  and  they  lived  under 
nearly  every  form  of  government,  from  the  patri- 
archal, through  the  tribal,  the  monarchical,  and 
the  hierarchical.  The  history  of  no  other  nation 
furnishes  parallels  of  so  varied  or  so  suggestive  a 
character.  I  beg  the  privilege  of  drawing  my  form 
of  expression  from  their  history;  and  I  do  so  with 
the  more  interest  because,  to  all  men  who  have 
religious  sympathies,  whether  Jew  or  Christian, 
whether  Roman  CathoHc  or  Protestant,  these  forms 
of  expression  are  familiar,  and  by  all  they  are  held 
sacred. 

Democracy  has  been  given  a  mission  to  the  world, 
and  it  is  of  no  uncertain  character.  I  wish  to  show 
that  the  university  is  the  prophet  of  this  democracy 
and,  as  well,  its  priest  and  its  philosopher;  that, 
in  other  words,  the  university  is  the  Messiah  of  the 
democracy,  its  to-be-expected  deliverer. 

The  university  is  the  prophet — that  is,  the  spokes- 
man— of  democracy.  Democracy,  if  it  continue, 
must  include  the  masses  and  maintain  their  sympa- 
thy and  interest.  But  as  a  system  it  is  the  product 
of  a  long  period  of  evolution,  and,  as  such,  is  not 
a  simple  system.  It  is,  indeed,  already  somewhat 
cumbersome  and  complex.  The  principles  which 
underhe  it  need  constant  and  repeated  statement  by 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         13 

those  whose  statement  will  make  deep  impression. 
Although  intended  to  be  the  expression  of  the  popu- 
lar mind,  it  is  the  outcome  of  movements  which 
have  been  in  operation  fifty  centuries  or  more.  It 
is  the  result  of  the  operation  of  laws  of  life  which 
antedate  the  existence  of  man  himself.  Of  the 
history  of  these  movements  and  of  the  character  of 
these  laws  the  popular  mind  is  for  the  most  part 
ignorant.  This  history  must  be  told  over  and  over 
again,  and  the  principles  made  very  plain,  that  all 
who  hear  may  understand. 

But  democracy  has  not  yet  been  unified.  Un- 
mistakable traces  exist  of  past  ages.  The  weight 
of  the  multitude  which  it  must  carry  renders  progress 
slow  in  any  case.  And  without  unity  the  doctrine 
of  equality  may  not  exert  its  full  force.  Spokesmen 
who  understand  this  unity  and  appreciate  its  ne- 
cessity in  the  economy  of  democratic  progress  must 
proclaim  it  far  and  near,  until  no  ear  shall  have 
failed  to  hear  the  proclamation,  no  heart  shall  have 
failed  to  heed  its  clear  injunction.  The  elements 
which  together  make  this  unity  must  be  drawn 
together  and  held  together  by  influences  that  shall 
outnumber  and  outweigh  those  pitted  on  the  other 
side. 

The  truth  is,  democracy  has  scarcely  yet  begun 
to  understand  itself.  It  is  comparatively  so  young 
and  untried,  and  the  real  experiment  has  been  of 
so  short  a  duration  that  it  could  not  be  otherwise. 
Democracy  needs  teachers  who  shall  say.  Know 


14        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

thyself]  messengers  who  shall  bring  light  to  shine 
upon  dark  places.  There  is  great  danger  that  the 
next  step,  at  any  time,  may  be  a  wrong  step.  Some 
such  have  already  been  taken;  and  history  shows 
the  terrible  cost  of  being  compelled  to  go  back  and 
start  anew.  Democracy  is  now  able  to  walk  alone, 
but  not  infrequently  something  occurs  which  leads 
us  to  think  that  there  has  not  yet  been  time  enough 
to  learn  how  a  fair  and  even  balance  may  at  all  times 
be  maintained. 

Democracy  seems  to  be  in  the  ascendency;  but 
the  impartial  student  of  the  situation  sees  many 
and  great  fields  not  yet  occupied,  while  those  already 
occupied  are  hardly  more  than  nominally  possessed. 
We  have  democracy  in  government,  to  be  sure, 
but  if  it  is  a  good  thing  in  government,  it  must  be 
equally  good  in  social  relations  of  various  kinds,  in 
art  and  literature  and  science.  That  its  influence 
has  been  exerted  in  these  fields  no  one  will  dispute. 
But  of  no  one  of  them  may  it  be  said  to  have  taken 
full  possession.  And  even  in  the  realm  of  govern- 
ment, how  slight  comparatively  among  the  nations 
is  the  progress  of  the  last  century!  The  occu- 
pation of  these  fields — not  by  conquest,  but  by 
invitation — would  greatly  strengthen  democracy 
in  the  places  now  occupied.  Who  will  persuade 
the  nations  to  prepare  the  invitation?  Who  will 
induct  democracy  into  these  new  fields  of  arts  and 
literature  and  science?  There  must  be  teachers 
who  know  democracy  and  at  the  same  time  litera- 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         15 

ture  or  science,  and  who,  in  due  time,  will  bring 
about  the  union  which  promises  to  the  world  so 
much  for  human  welfare. 

Democracy  has  great  battles  yet  to  fight.  Every 
step  forward  is  in  the  face  of  deadliest  opposition. 
Her  enemies  are  those  who  sit  on  thrones  and  com- 
mand great  armies.  Christianity  may  be  demo- 
cratic, but  the  church  is  too  frequently  hostile  to  the 
appHcation  of  democratic  principles.  These  battles, 
moreover,  must  be  fought  with  words,  not  swords. 
The  pen  is  far  the  more  efifective  weapon.  There 
will  be  many  battles;  some  of  them  will  be  long 
drawn  out.  The  mutterings  of  war  may  now  be 
heard  in  many  quarters,  but  in  the  end  prophetic 
weapons  will  win  the  victory,  and  "the  kings  shall 
shut  their  mouths,  for  that  which  had  not  been 
told  them  shall  they  see,  and  that  which  they  had 
not  heard  shall  they  consider'*  (Isa.  52:15). 

Sometimes,  too,  democracy  grows  despondent. 
Borne  down  by  the  weight  of  opposition,  over- 
come by  the  power  of  those  who  for  personal  ends 
would  see  her  humbled  in  the  dust,  she  cries:  "My 
way  is  hid  from  the  Lord;  my  judgment  is  passed 
over  from  my  God."  Discouragement  and  despair 
lead  to  utter  demoralization  and  failure.  Under 
such  circumstances,  the  words  of  the  comforter 
are  needed.  Who  can  measure  the  density  of  the 
darkness  and  distress  which  have  settled  down  upon 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  great  multitude  of  men 
and  women  in  our  great  cities,  for  whom,  as  indi- 


i6        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

viduals,  there  is  no  hope  in  life,  save  perhaps  that 
of  bare  existence  until  kindly  death  shall  call  them 
away?  Yet  these  it  is  who  constitute  the  multi- 
tude that  is  called  democracy.  "And  they  look 
unto  the  earth  and  behold  distress  and  darkness, 
the  gloom  of  anguish,  and  into  thick  darkness  they 
are  driven  away;  and  they  pass  through  it  hardly 
bestead  and  hungry;  and  it  comes  to  pass  that, 
when  they  are  hungry,  they  fret  themselves,  and 
curse  their  king  and  their  God  and  turn  their  faces 
upward.'^  But  now  the  prophet's  voice  is  heard: 
"But  there  shall  not  always  be  gloom  to  her  that 
was  in  anguish  ....  the  people  that  have  walked 
in  darkness  shall  see  a  great  light."  And  they 
shall  rejoice;  for  all  oppression  shall  be  removed, 
and  all  war  shall  cease,  and  a  new  government 
shall  be  established — a  government  of  justice  and 
righteousness  which  shall  endure  forever.  It  is 
the  prophetic  voice  speaking  to  a  downcast,  down- 
trodden people — a  democracy  despondent. 

At  times,  furthermore,  democracy  is  corrupt. 
Under  the  guise  of  loyalty  to  her  best  interests, 
those  in  whose  hands  she  has  intrusted  herself  in 
loving  kindness  assault  and  seduce  her.  Shame 
and  reproach  fall  upon  her.  She  must  be  cleansed 
and  purified  before  she  may  again  take  up  her  great 
and  glorious  work  for  all  the  world  with  a  certain 
hope  of  success.  She  has  exhibited  a  fatal  weak- 
ness; the  result  will  be  ruinous.  Sharp  and  stem 
words  must  be  spoken  by  the  prophet,  whose  keen 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         17 

eye  sees  the  situation  and  its  dangers.  No  pity 
may  be  extended,  no  word  of  sympathy,  until  the 
evil  has  been  mended.  The  lesson  is  bitter  and 
fuU  of  shame;  but  the  effect  will  be  for  good,  if 
the  chastisement  is  severe  enough.  The  clear  voice 
of  prophetic  rebuke  must  be  heard,  whenever  cor- 
ruption rears  its  head  to  public  gaze. 

Democracy  surely  has  a  mission;  and  if  so,  that 
mission,  is  in  a  word,  righteousness.  It  is  an  inter- 
esting fact  that  all  the  great  religious  truths  were 
worked  out  in  the  popular  mind  before  they  were 
formulated  by  the  thinkers.  The  world  is  waiting 
for  the  working  out  of  the  doctrine  of  national 
righteousness  through  democracy,  and  no  effort  to 
formulate  the  doctrine  beforehand  will  avail.  But 
the  day  is  coming  when  the  thought  will  have  become 
tangible  enough  to  be  expressed.  The  popular 
mind  will  not  be  able  to  do  this  service.  The 
prophet,  whose  discerning  eye  reads  the  thought 
in  the  heart  of  democracy  itself,  expressed  in  heart- 
throbs reaching  to  the  very  depths  of  human  ex- 
perience— the  prophet,  I  say,  will  then  formulate 
the  teaching  which  will  make  earth  indeed  a  paradise. 

The  democracy,  as  an  institution,  needs  in- 
terpretation. The  past  must  be  interpreted  in 
order  that  its  lessons  may  be  learned,  its  mistakes 
avoided.  The  greatest  danger  is  that  there  shall 
be  failure  to  maintain  the  closest  connection  with 
the  past.  This  is  necessary  for  the  sake  of  com- 
parison.   Without  such  comparison  we  may  never 


i8        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION      \ 

know  our  own  position.  Every  event  of  past 
history  has  contained  a  message.  Every  life  has 
been  an  utterance.  These  events  and  lives  are  to 
be  treated  as  object-lessons  which  we  are  to  con- 
template, and  by  contemplation  to  learn  how 
righteousness  may  be  found.  The  rise  and  fall 
of  nations,  the  growth  and  decay  of  institutions, 
the  temporary  influences  of  great  characters  as 
interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  present,  constitute 
the  basis  for  all  better  understanding  and  all  better 
execution  of  the  democratic  idea. 

The  present  itself  must  be  known  and  interpreted. 
Its  currents  and  cross-currents,  while  in  large 
measure  the  result  of  forces  set  in  movement  far  up 
the  stream,  must  be  estimated  anew  with  each  fresh 
dawn  of  day.  The  shallows  and  depths  are  never 
the  same  on  two  successive  days.  The  charts 
noting  danger  signals  must  be  prepared  with  each 
turn  of  the  tide  of  pubHc  opinion.  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  slightest  turn  in  the  direction  of 
promise  is  to  be  encouraged.  It  is  often  the  small- 
est variation  from  the  ordinary  that  proves  to  be 
the  precursor  of  greatest  reform;  for  true  reform 
always  begins  with  the  thin  edge  of  the  wedge. 
If  the  present  be  cared  for,  the  future  will  take  care 
of  itself. 

But  the  future  of  democracy  must  be  considered. 
Mounting  the  watch-tower  of  observation,  the  true 
leader  of  democracy  will  make  a  forecast  of  the 
tendencies,  in  order  to  encourage  his  followers  by 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         19 

holding  up  the  glory  that  awaits  them,  or,  by  depict- 
ing the  disaster  that  is  coming,  to  turn  them  aside 
from  a  policy  so  soon  to  prove  destructive. 

In  ancient  days,  the  man  who  interpreted  the 
past,  who  measured  the  present,  and  who  foretold 
the  future  was  called  a  prophet.  The  university, 
I  contend,  is  this  prophet  of  democracy — the  agency 
established  by  heaven  itself  to  proclaim  the  princi- 
ples of  democracy.  It  is  in  the  university  that  the 
best  opportunity  is  afforded  to  investigate  the  move- 
ments of  the  past  and  to  present  the  facts  and  princi- 
ples involved  before  the  public.  It  is  the  uni- 
versity that,  as  the  center  of  thought,  is  to  maintain 
for  democracy  the  unity  so  essential  for  its  success. 
The  university  is  the  prophetic  school  out  of  which 
come  the  teachers  who  are  to  lead  democracy  in  the 
true  path.  It  is  the  university  that  must  guide 
democracy  into  the  new  fields  of  arts  and  literature 
and  science.  It  is  the  university  that  fights  the 
battles  of  democracy,  its  war-cry  being:  "Come, 
let  us  reason  together."  It  is  the  university  that, 
in  these  latter  days,  goes  forth  with  buoyant  spirit 
to  comfort  and  give  help  to  those  who  are  down- 
cast, taking  up  its  dweUing  in  the  very  midst  of 
squalor  and  distress.  It  is  the  university  that, 
with  impartial  judgment,  condemns  in  democracy 
the  spirit  of  corruption  which  now  and  again  lifts 
up  the  head,  and  brings  scandal  upon  democracy's 
fair  name. 

The  university  is  the  prophet  who  is  to  hold 


20        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

high  the  great  ideal  of  democracy,  its  mission  for 
righteousness;  and  by  repeated  formulation  of  the 
ideal,  by  repeated  presentations  of  its  claims,  make 
it  possible  for  the  people  to  realize  in  tangible  form 
the  thought  which  has  come  up  from  their  deepest 
heart.  The  university,  I  maintain,  is  the  prophetic 
interpreter  of  democracy;  the  prophet  of  her  past, 
in  all  its  vicissitudes;  the  prophet  of  her  present, 
in  all  its  complexity;  the  prophet  of  her  future,  in 
all  its  possibiHties. 

Among  the  prophets  of  olden  times,  some  were 
mere  soothsayers  who  resorted  to  the  ministrations 
of  music  in  order  to  arouse  themselves  to  excited 
frenzy.  Some  were  dreaming  seers,  as  much  awake 
when  sleep  settled  down  upon  their  eyes  as  they 
were  asleep  to  all  that  was  about  them  in  their  waking 
moments.  Some  were  priests  whom  the  prophetic 
spirit  had  aroused,  but  had  not  wholly  subjugated. 
Some  were  the  greatest  souls  the  world  ever  knew, 
whose  hearts  were  touched  by  the  spirit  of  the  living 
God,  whose  eyes  were  open  to  visions  of  divine  glory, 
whose  arms  were  steeled  by  the  courage  born  of 
close  communion  with  higher  powers.  It  is  just 
so  with  universities.  Some  are  universities  only 
in  name;  some,  forgetting  the  circumstances  of 
their  birth,  may  indeed  be  arrayed  against  de- 
mocracy. But  the  true  university,  Hke  the  true 
prophet,  will  be  faithful  to  its  antecedents  and, 
therefore,  faithful  to  democracy. 

But  the  university  is  also  the  priest  of  the  de- 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         21 

mocracy.  But  a  priest  is  found  only  in  association 
with  religion.  Is  democracy  a  religion?  No. 
Has  democracy  a  religion?  Yes;  a  religion  with 
its  god,  its  altar,  and  its  temple,  with  its  code  of 
ethics  and  its  creed.  Its  god  is  mankind,  humanity; 
its  altar,  home;  its  temple,  country.  The  one 
doctrine  of  democracy's  creed  is  the  brotherhood, 
and  consequently  the  equality  of  man;  its  system 
of  ethics  is  contained  in  a  single  word,  righteousness. 

In  this  rehgion  there  is  much  of  Judaism,  and 
likewise  much  of  Christianity.  This  was  to  be 
expected,  for  it  was  Jeremiah  of  olden  time  who 
first  preached  the  idea  of  individualism,  the  idea 
that  later  became  the  fundamental  thought  in  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  world's  greatest  advo- 
cate of  democracy;  while  the  supplementary  idea 
of  solidarity,  the  corollary  of  individualism,  was 
first  preached  by  Ezekiel,  and  likewise  later  de- 
veloped into  Christianity. 

The  prophet  in  history  has  always  been  a  hero; 
he  has  been  applauded  for  his  boldness  and  for  his 
idealistic  visions.  The  priest,  on  the  other  hand, 
has  generally  been  thought  a  cunning  worker,  and 
while  his  shrewdness  has  been  appreciated,  his 
ambition  has  been  feared  and  dreaded.  In  modern 
times,  as  in  most  ancient  days,  the  prophets  and 
the  priests  have  become  more  and  more  closely 
identified  in  spirit  and  in  work;  but  the  difference 
is  still  a  marked  one. 

The  religion  of  democracy  is  an  eclectic  religion. 


22        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

It  has  absorbed  many  of  the  best  features  of  vari- 
ous religions  and  systems  of  philosophy.  It  is  a 
broad  religion,  including  a  wide  variety  of  belief 
and  practice.  It  is,  nevertheless,  a  definite  religion, 
representing  a  clearly  defined  tendency  of  expres- 
sion, both  in  feeling  and  in  action.  It  is  a  world- 
wide religion;  but  the  world  in  great  part  must  be 
changed  before  its  acceptance  will  be  general. 

It  is  the  prophet  that  has  to  do  with  creed  and 
ethics,  and  these  have  already  been  considered. 
The  priest  is  concerned  with  the  religious  cultus 
or  practice,  and  finds  his  chief  occupation  in  the 
upbuilding  and  preservation  of  the  practice.  His 
work  is  the  work  of  service.  He  is  the  mediator 
between  the  individual  and  the  ideal,  whether 
abstract  or  concrete,  which  constitutes  his  God. 
For  the  god  of  each  individual  is  that  individual's 
highest  conception  of  man,  his  ideal  man.  The 
priest  of  democracy's  religion  is  therefore  a  medi- 
ator between  man  and  man;  for  man  is  the  con- 
stituent element  in  democracy,  and  humanity  is 
the  ideal  of  all  its  aspirations. 

The  service  of  the  priest  includes,  likewise,  the 
bringing  into  a  close  communion,  each  with  the 
other,  of  the  individual  and  his  God,  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  deep  and  lasting  communion  between  the 
two.  This  service  represents  still  further  the  act 
of  consecration,  on  the  part  both  of  the  priest  and 
the  worshiper — consecration  to  the  highest  and 
holiest  conceptions  of  truth  and  life.     It  is  the  priest 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         23 

who,  himself  trained  in  all  the  mysteries  of  a  re- 
ligious cultus,  himself  the  custodian  of  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  past,  inducts  those  who  are  of  a  kindred 
feeHng  into  those  strange  mysteries  and  their  in- 
herited treasures. 

The  university,  as  priest,  is  a  mediator  between 
man  and  man;  between  man  and  man's  own  self; 
between  mankind  and  that  ideal  inner  self  of  man- 
kind which  merits  and  receives  man's  adoration. 
The  university,  like  the  priest,  leads  those  who  place 
themselves  under  its  influence,  whether  they  live 
within  or  without  the  university  walls,  to  enter  into 
close  communion  with  their  own  souls — a  com- 
munion possible  only  where  opportunity  is  offered 
for  meditative  leisure.  The  university  guild,  of 
all  the  guilds  of  workingmen,  has  been  the  most 
successful  in  securing  that  leisure  for  contempla- 
tion, consideration  of  society  and  of  nature,  without 
which  mankind  can  never  become  acquainted  with 
itself.  And  for  this  reason  the  university  is  in  deep 
sympathy  with  every  legitimate  effort,  made  by 
other  guilds  of  workingmen,  to  secure  shorter  hours 
of  labor  and  longer  hours  for  self-improvement. 
Communion  with  self,  study  of  self,  is,  where  rightly 
understood,  communion  with  God  and  study  of 
God. 

The  university,  furthermore,  performs  priestly 
service  for  democracy  in  the  act  of  consecration 
which  is  involved  in  her  very  constitution.  And 
here  the  old  and  the  modern  views  of  education  are 


24        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

combined.  The  university  isolates  itself  from  every- 
thing that  would  tend  to  draw  her  from  the  pre- 
determined service  which  she  has  undertaken.  Her 
purpose  is  a  fixed  one,  and  nothing  may  cause  her 
to  swerve  from  it.  She  has  devoted  herseK  with 
a  consecration  received  from  heaven  to  the  cause 
of  Hfting  up  the  folk  of  her  environment — an  act  of 
consecration  than  which  none  is  more  holy.  But 
now,  though  separated  thus  from  all  the  world  for 
the  world's  sake,  she  puts  herself  in  touch  with  this 
same  "all  the  world,"  and  no  gate  or  portal  fails 
to  greet  her  entrance.  Set  apart,  and  consecrated 
to  the  service  of  every  kind  of  man,  she  leads  those 
who  will  follow  her  to  consecrate  themselves  to  the 
cause  of  liberty  and  truth  and  righteousness,  in 
home,  in  country,  and  throughout  the  world. 

The  university  is  the  keeper,  for  the  church  of 
the  democracy,  of  holy  mysteries,  of  sacred  and 
significant  traditions.  These  are  of  such  character 
that  if  touched  by  profane  hands  they  would  be 
injured.  But  the  initiated  are  given  free  access, 
and  every  man  who  will  may  receive  initiation.  No 
effort  is  made  to  exclude;  every  effort  is  made  rather 
to  include  in  the  list  of  the  initiated  the  whole  world ; 
for  the  mysteries  are  such  only  to  those  who  have 
not  yet  been  brought  to  see.  Home,  country,  and 
humanity — it  is  for  these  and  with  these  that  this 
priestly  activity  is  put  forth. 

This  service  of  mediation,  of  putting  self  in  close 
communion  with  self,  of  consecration  and  initiation 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         25 

into  sacred  mysteries,  is  performed  in  the  home, 
the  altar  of  democracy,  the  most  sacred  altar  known 
to  mankind.  The  service  touches  father  and  mother 
long  before  they  are  father  and  mother,  and  reveals 
the  nature  of  fatherhood  and  motherhood.  It  takes 
the  son  or  daughter,  and  indirectly  touches  again 
the  father  and  mother.  Through  the  school  system, 
the  character  of  which,  in  spite  of  itself,  the  uni- 
versity determines  and  in  a  large  measure  controls 
(whenever  the  political  machine  will  permit  any 
good  influence  to  control) — through  the  school 
system  every  family  in  this  entire  broad  land  of  ours 
is  brought  into  touch  with  the  university;  for  from 
it  proceed  the  teachers  or  the  teachers'  teachers. 

The  priestly  service  is  Hkewise  performed  for 
and  with  and  in  the  country  as  a  whole,  the  great 
temple  of  democracy.  EnHghtenment  means  pure 
purpose  and  holy  enthusiasm;  these  make  loyalty 
to  truth,  and  true  loyalty.  That  religion  which 
blindly  accepts  what  is  thrust  upon  it  is  not  religion, 
but  superstition.  That  patriotism  which  knows 
not  what  it  serves,  or  for  what  it  is  intended,  is  not 
patriotism,  but  ignorant  servility.  Patriotism,  to 
be  a  virtue,  must  be  intelligent,  must  know  why  it 
is  exercised  and  for  what.  Not  every  man  is  equal 
in  the  work  of  administering  the  country's  business. 
Only  those  who  are  best  can  serve  best  her  interests. 

Here  the  priestly  service  of  the  university  is  most 
necessary,  in  mediating  between  party  and  party; 
in  mingling  together  as  in  a  crucible  the  widely  di- 


26        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

verging  ideas;  in  holding  up  the  standard  of  con- 
secration to  truth  and  to  truth  only;  in  unveiHng 
the  history  of  the  past  with  its  strange  secrets  of 
successful  and  unsuccessful  experience.  Without 
such  work,  the  service  in  the  temple  would  be  a 
bewildering  discord  of  unattuned  elements  out  of 
which  no  harmonious  sound  would  come  to  lift 
the  soul  to  higher  and  purer  thoughts  of  patriotic 
feeling. 

But  greater  service  yet,  if  possible,  is  rendered 
by  the  university  in  that  most  profound  act  of  worship 
(in  the  broadest  sense)  which  man  performs  when 
he  lifts  his  thoughts  beyond  home  and  country  to 
humanity  at  large,  mankind.  As  in  ordinary  re- 
ligion the  great  majority  perhaps  do  not  transcend 
the  altar,  or  at  all  events  the  temple,  their  vision 
being  so  limited  that  God  himself  is  forgotten;  so 
home  and  country,  for  the  most  part,  exhaust  the 
feelings  of  most  of  the  adherents  of  democracy's 
religion.  But  the  priest,  whose  great  duty  it  is  to 
enlarge  the  vision  of  his  followers,  takes  infinite 
trouble  to  teach  men  that  the  ties  of  humanity  are 
not  limited  to  those  of  home  and  country,  but  extend 
to  all  the  world;  for  all  men  are  brothers.  Human- 
kind is  one.  And  now  the  university  stands  as 
mediator  between  one  country  and  another  far 
remote.  Her  service  now  is  to  extend  to  the  utmost 
limits  the  bond  of  connection  which  will  enable 
nation  to  commune  closely  with  nation.  More 
solemn,  sacred,  and  significant  than  ever  before  is 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         27 

the  consecration  which  now  includes  republics  and 
kingdoms  and  empires.  The  inner  secrets  of  the 
soul  of  humanity  (not  a  single  man),  of  mankind  (not 
a  nation)  are  the  subjects  of  study  and  of  procla- 
mation. 

The  university  is  a  priest  estabHshed  to  act  as 
mediator  in  the  religion  of  democracy,  wherever 
mediation  may  be  possible;  established  to  lead  the 
souls  of  men  and  nations  into  close  communication 
with  the  common  soul  of  all  humanity;  established 
to  stand  apart  from  other  institutions,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  mingle  closely  with  the  constituent 
elements  of  the  people;  estabHshed  to  introduce 
whosoever  will  into  all  the  mysteries  of  the  past  and 
present,  whether  solved  or  still  unsolved. 

Among  the  priests  of  olden  times  some  groveled 
about  in  the  mire  of  covetousness  and  pollution, 
encouraging  men  to  sin,  that  they  (the  priests) 
might  have  the  sin-offering;  some  were  perfunctory 
officials  with  whom  the  letter  of  service  was  all- 
sufficient;  some  were  true  mediators  between  man 
and  God,  and  teachers  of  the  holiest  truths;  some 
of  them  in  their  ministrations  of  divine  things  reached 
so  near  to  God  himself  as  to  exhibit  in  their  lives  and 
thoughts  the  very  essence  of  divinity. 

It  is  just  so  with  the  universities.  Some  are 
deaf  to  the  cry  of  suffering  humanity;  some  are 
exclusive  and  shut  up  within  themselves;  but  the 
true  university,  the  university  of  the  future,  is  one 
the  motto  of  which  will  be:    Service  for  mankind 


28        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

wherever  mankind  is,  whether  within  scholastic 
walls  or  without  those  walls  and  in  the  world  at 
large. 

Some,  perhaps  many,  will  deny  that  democracy 
has  a  religion;  but  no  one  will  deny  that  democracy 
has  a  philosophy;  and  the  university,  I  contend,  is 
the  philosopher  of  democracy.  The  time  that  re- 
mains permits  only  the  briefest  statement  of  this 
proposition. 

It  was  not  always  possible,  in  the  Old  Testament 
economy,  to  draw  a  sharp  line  between  the  work  of 
the  prophet,  the  priest,  and  the  philosopher  or  sage. 
The  work  of  the  sage  entered  into  that  of  both  the 
priest-  and  the  prophet;  the  prophetic  ranks  were 
often  recruited  from  those  of  the  priests.  But,  in 
spite  of  some  confusion  and  interchange,  there  was 
a  marked  distinction.  The  prophet  was  the  ideal- 
ist; the  priest,  the  formalist;  the  sage,  the  humanist. 
The  prophet's  thought  centered  on  the  nation;  the 
priest's,  on  the  church;  the  sage's,  on  the  world. 
From  our  modern  point  of  view,  the  prophet  might 
be  called  the  preacher;  the  priest,  the  trainer  or 
teacher;  the  sage,  the  thinker. 

The  situation  in  which  democracy  finds  herself 
today  makes  serious  demands  for  severe  thinking. 
By  severe  thinking  I  mean  the  honest  and  unbiased 
consideration  of  all  the  facts  which  relate  to  de- 
mocracy. Valuable  contributions  toward  the  criti- 
cism of  democracy  have  been  made  by  De  Tocque- 
ville,  by  Sir  Henry  Maine,  and  by  Mr.  Lecky.   But 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         29 

in  such  cases  the  vision  was  greatly  restricted  and 
cut  short.  Only  one  or  two  specific  statements 
concerning  democracy  have  been  made  which  still 
pass  unchallenged.  The  philosophical  treatment 
of  the  movement  has  received  many  important  con- 
tributions; but,  taken  altogether,  these  form  but 
the  beginning  of  the  philosophic  work  which  is 
urgently  demanded. 

This  work  lies  along  three  lines.  The  origin  of 
democracy  is  still  a  subject  of  profound  inquiry; 
and  in  connection  with  the  questions  of  origin  are 
those  of  ancient  democracies  and  their  connection 
with  the  ancient  systems.  The  history  of  all  this, 
so  far  as  it  includes  the  main  facts,  is  tolerably  well 
known;  but  the  philosophy  of  this  history  is  still  a 
subject  for  investigation.  To  another  division  of 
the  work  must  be  assigned  the  formulation  of  the 
laws  or  principles  of  democracy.  With  one  or  two 
of  these  we  are  fairly  famiHar;  but  in  detail  the 
work  is  still  the  work  of  the  future.  That  which 
is  immediate  and  pressing  are  the  special  problems 
of  democracy,  which  have  been  immediate  and  press- 
ing throughout  its  history,  and  for  the  solution  of 
which  any  formulation  of  laws  must  wait.  These 
problems  concern  almost  every  point  for  which  de- 
mocracy is  supposed  to  stand.  These  furnish  the 
work  of  the  day,  and  with  these  the  philosopher, 
whoever  he  may  be  or  whatever  he  may  be,  must 
engage  himself.  These  problems  are  so  old  and  so 
constantly  before  us  that  they  scarcely  need  mention; 


so        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

and  yet  the  longer  their  solution  is  delayed,  the  more 
serious  becomes  their  importance.  Sociahsm,  or 
the  extreme  and  exaggerated  form  of  democracy, 
threatens  to  deprive  democracy  of  many  of  her  best 
friends,  and  unless  checked  bids  fair  to  do  incalcu- 
lable injury  to  the  movement  for  popular  govern- 
ment. The  rapid  increase  of  the  population  in  the 
larger  cities,  and  the  character  of  this  population, 
has  raised  the  question  whether,  in  these  cases,  de- 
mocracy is  able  to  deal  with  municipal  government, 
whatever  advantages  it  may  have  in  state  and  national 
government.  The  numbers  of  the  people  have 
greatly  increased  in  a  hundred  years.  Did  the  de- 
mocracy of  a  century  ago  contemplate  that  one 
hundred  millions  of  people  were  to  be  governed  by 
themselves  ?  Whatever  democracy  may  do  in  coun- 
tries like  Switzerland,  the  problem  which  presents 
itself  in  America,  or  even  in  France,  is,  on  account 
of  the  vast  numbers  concerned,  something  most 
perplexing. 

Within  the  past  three  or  four  decades  great  wealth 
has  come  to  a  few  men  here  and  there,  and  the  re- 
lation of  this  accumulated  wealth  to  democratic  insti- 
tutions and  to  democratic  life  has  still  to  be  deter- 
mined. In  a  monarchy  or  aristocracy  there  is  a  place 
for  men  of  wealth.  How  is  it  in  a  democracy  ?  Here, 
too,  there  must  be  a  place  for  such;  but  what  shall 
it  be  and  by  what  determined?  What,  too,  shall 
democracy  finally  determine  concerning  tha  great 
business  corporations  which,  to  so  great  an  extent, 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         31 

now  control  the  commercial  life  of  the  nation  ?  These 
are  not  survivals  from  an  aristocracy.  They  are  the 
product  of  democracy.  Democracy  herself  is  re- 
sponsible for  them.  How  will  she  adjust  herself  to 
them  and  them  to  herself  ? 

The  law-making  bodies  of  democracy  are  gradu- 
ally losing  strength  and  prestige.  Another  quarter 
of  a  century  of  deterioration,  another  quarter  of  a 
century  without  radical  modification  of  the  present 
plan,  will  put  popular  government  in  a  position  which 
will  be  embarrassing  in  the  extreme.  Thus  far  de- 
mocracy seems  to  have  found  no  way  of  making  sure 
that  the  strongest  men  should  be  placed  in  control 
of  the  country's  business.  Men  confessedly  weak, 
whose  private  business  has  been  a  failure,  are  too 
frequently  the  men  who  are  intrusted  with  the  nation's 
affairs.  Especially  has  the  diplomatic  and  consular 
service  of  democracy  (although  there  are  notable  ex- 
ceptions) been  weak  and  unsatisfactory.  How  shall 
the  strong  men  be  secured  for  government  work? 
The  democracy  of  a  century  ago  never  dreamed  that 
a  party  machine  would  be  substituted  for  the  will  of 
the  people.  Is  the  government  of  today  really  a  de- 
mocracy, or  is  it  rather  an  oHgarchy  ?  The  problem 
of  the  demagogue  and  the  machine  is  on  every  side. 
The  difficulty  of  securing  an  honest  vote  is  certainly 
greater  than  could  have  been  anticipated.  Many 
do  not  care  to  vote;  many  desire  to  vote  too  often. 
In  some  sections  many  are  not  allowed  to  vote  who 
by  the  laws  of  the  land  are  entitled  to  vote.    How 


32        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

shall  the  vote,  the  whole  vote,  and  nothing  but  the 
vote,  be  counted? 

The  church,  too,  is  losing  its  hold  upon  the  people. 
For  this  the  democracy  is  directly  or  indirectly  re- 
sponsible. The  churches  are  not  democratic  insti- 
tutions. The  great  class  of  workingmen  is  hostile 
to  them.  And  unfortunately  the  masses  make  no 
distinction  between  the  church  and  Christianity.  De- 
mocracy has  in  this  matter  a  great  problem  staring 
her  in  the  face. 

Education  is  the  basis  of  all  democratic  progress. 
The  problems  of  education  are,  therefore,  the  prob- 
lems of  democracy.  These  are  numerous  and  varied 
and  complex;  only  the  expert  can  appreciate  their 
gravity.  It  is  maintained  by  some  that  in  a  democracy 
only  the  mediocre  may  be  expected  in  the  develop- 
ment of  art  and  literature  and  science.  It  is  the  duty 
of  democracy  to  meet  this  proposition;  for,  if  true, 
it  is  in  itself  fatal  to  democracy's  highest  claims.  The 
future  of  democracy  is  the  problem  of  problems,  in- 
cluding, as  it  does,  all  others.  What  will  democracy 
have  achieved  one  hundred — five  hundred — years 
hence  ?  The  highest  and  final  test  of  every  plan  of 
government  is,  as  Mr.  Godkin  has  said,  its  abihty 
to  last. 

Now,  I  know  full  well  the  tendency  of  our  Ameri- 
can repubUc  to  sneer  at  the  theorizing  of  the  uni- 
versity; to  treat  disdainfully  all  statements  which 
bear  the  stamp  of  scholarly  spirit;  to  look  askance 
at  everything  that  seems  to  bear  the  air  of  superiority. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  DEMOCRACY         33 

But  when,  against  the  advice  of  experience  and  the 
plea  of  theory,  urgent  steps  are  taken  which  soon 
prove  to  be  wrong  steps,  how  quickly  does  this  same 
American  public  turn  about  and  adopt  the  idea  which 
theory  and  experience  advocated!  The  examples 
of  this  are  so  numerous  and  so  familiar  that  I  will 
not  stop  to  recount  them. 

The  university,  therefore,  is  the  philosopher  of 
democracy,  because  it  and  it  alone  furnishes  the 
opportunity  for  the  study  of  these  problems.  Allow 
me  to  repeat  the  functions  of  the  university  as  they 
were  formulated  by  the  great  apostle  of  democracy, 
Thomas  Jejfferson: 

To  form  the  statesmen,  legislators,  and  judges,  on  whom 
public  property  and  individual  happiness  are  so  much  to 
depend;  to  expound  the  principles  and  structure  of  govern- 
ment, the  laws  which  regulate  the  intercourse  of  nations, 
those  formed  principally  for  our  own  government  in  a  sound 
spirit  of  legislation;  ....  to  harmonize  and  promote  the 
interests  of  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  commerce,  and 
by  well-informed  views  of  political  economy  to  give  free 
scope  to  the  public  industry. 

What  is  this  but  to  solve  the  problems  of  democ- 
racy? 

I  have  not  forgotten  that  the  Old  Testament 
Messiah  was  expected  to  be  not  only  a  prophet,  a 
priest,  and  a  sage,  but  also  a  king.  But  the  repre- 
sentation as  king  was  only  an  adaptation  to  the 
monarchy  under  which  the  idea  had  its  birth.  When 
he  came,  he  was  no  king  in  any  sense  that  had  been 
expected.    His  was  a  democratic  spirit;  democracy 


34        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

has  no  place  for  a  king.  The  dream  of  the  Old 
Testament  theocracy  was  of  this  Messiah,  the  ex- 
pected one,  by  whose  hand  wrong  should  be  set  right, 
the  high  ones  cast  down,  the  lowly  lifted  up.  And 
all  the  while  prophets  and  priests  and  sages  were 
living  and  working  and  hastening  forward  the  reali- 
zation of  this  magnificent  ideal. 

Now,  let  the  dream  of  democracy  be  likewise  of 
that  expected  one;  this  time  an  expected  agency 
which,  in  union  with  all  others,  will  usher  in  the  dawn 
of  the  day  when  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man 
will  be  understood  and  accepted  by  all  men.  Mean- 
while the  universities  here  and  there,  in  the  New 
World  and  in  the  Old;  the  university  men  who 
occupy  high  places  throughout  the  earth;  the  uni- 
versity spirit  which,  with  every  decade,  dominates 
the  world  more  fully,  will  be  doing  the  work  of  the 
prophet,  the  priest,  and  the  philosopher  of  democ- 
racy, and  will  continue  to  do  that  work  until  it  shall 
be  finished,  until  a  purified  and  exalted  democracy 
shall  have  become  universal. 


II 

SOME  PRESENT  TENDENCIES   OF  POPU- 
LAR EDUCATION 

Because  we  live  in  an  environment  largely 
dominated  by  the  spirit  of  democracy;  because  we 
breathe  an  atmosphere  strongly  charged  with  the 
spirit  of  inquiry;  and  because  we  cherish  hopes  and 
ideals  thoroughly  impregnated  with  the  spirit  of 
constructive  work,  there  have  come  to  exist  among  us 
an  interest  in  popular  education  and  a  sympathy 
for  its  promulgation  unknown  among  the  people  of 
other  nations,  unparalleled  in  any  preceding  period 
of  history. 

The  spirit  of  democracy  is  fast  taking  closer 
hold  upon  our  civilization,  and  with  every  fresh 
grasp,  the  a£fairs  of  individual  and  of  state  assume 
new  relations  to  each  other — relations  which  demand 
larger  and  keener  conceptions  of  life  and  action. 

The  spirit  of  inquiry  is  everywhere  stirring  men's 
souls  to  such  a  depth  that  old  ideas  must  take  on 
new  expression,  if  they  are  still  to  have  a  place  side 
by  side  with  the  new  ideas  which  claim  consideration. 
The  constructive  spirit,  in  the  presence  of  which 
nothing  seems  to  be  impossible  or  unattainable, 
impels  men  to  undertake  deeds  in  the  accomplish- 
ing of  which  definite  knowledge,  expert  skill,  and 
thorough  discipline  are  essential  factors. 

35 


36        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

And  so  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  people  on  all 
sides  and  of  all  classes  expect — indeed,  demand — 
what  we  call  education.  We  see  today,  as  men 
never  have  seen  before,  what  the  people  when  edu- 
cated .can  actually  accomphsh;  what  education  of 
the  people  really  signifies;  what  freedom  of  speech 
and  thought  involves. 

The  phrase  ''popular  education"  may  mean 
one  or  all  of  several  things.  It  is,  in  fact,  employed 
to  designate  various  meanings.  In  its  largest  sense 
it,  of  course,  means  the -education  of  the  peopleT)y 
the^^gSQgki^  Somfi-times  itia^used  to  designate  the 
education  of  adult  men  and  women_,  as  distinguished 
Erom  that  of  children  in  the  schools,  and  of  young 
men  and  women  in  the  colleges.  Sometimes  it  is 
used  to  signify  a  general  education,  as  distinguished 
from  technical  or  professional.  Or,  it  may  be  used 
to  include  the  education  in  lower  grades  of  the 
millions  of  school  children;  for,  from  one  point  of 
view,  this  is  an  education  of  the  people.  Again,  it 
may  be  limited  to  those  vague  influences  which 
elevate  and  cultivate  humanity  at  large — influences 
as  numberless  as  they  are  vague. 

A  classification  or  division  of  the  term  "popular 
education"  sufficiently  definite  for  our  purpose, 
will  be  obtained  if  we  treat  as  popular  the  agencies 
and  influences  not  ordinarily  included  in  our  regular 
school  and  college  system.  These  latter  may  be 
termed  professional,  or  technical,  or  formal,  as  dis- 
tinguished  from   those   called   popular.    And   the 


TENDENCIES  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION     37 

line  of  distinction  shall  be  that  in  one  case  the 
persons  instructed  go  to  the  school;  in  the  other, 
the  school  or  educational  agency  goes  to  the  student. 
This  dividing  hne,  though  at  first  sight  it  may- 
appear  arbitrary,  will  be  found  on  closer  examination 
to  be  based  upon  fundamental  distinctions.  Let 
me  mention  two  or  three. 

In  school  education  the  individual  makes  study 
his  first  work,  and  everything  else  subsidiary;  in 
popular  education,  one's  occupation,  the  means  of 
livehhood,  takes  precedence,  while  the  educational 
effort  becomes  secondary. 

In  the  education  of  the  school,  in  most  cases 
work  is  not  a  matter  of  choice,  the  details  having 
been  largely  determined  beforehand  either  by  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  as  in  the  education  of 
the  young;  or  by  tradition,  as,  for  the  most  part,  in 
college  work;  or  by  the  special  demands  of  a  fixed 
routine,  as  in  the  case  of  professional  training. 
Popular  education,  on  the  other  hand,  is  marked 
by  the  entire  absence  of  such  rigid  determination; 
the  kind  of  work,  its  method,  and  its  time  all  being 
questions  concerning  which  there  is  larger  choice. 
This  gre3.tPx.ir££domjnay  have  disadvantages :  the 
definite  and  specjfic  results  of  a  more  forma.1  educa- 
tion may.  not  be  s^9^^^4v  Still,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  people  have  in  general  reached  a 
maturity  of  judgment  not  yet  attained  by  the  mass 
of  those  in  attendance  upon  school,  and,  further, 
that  the  popular  work  is  absolutely  elective,  nay 


38        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

even  voluntary;  and  this  election  holds  not  only  in 
the  matter  of  the  subject  studied,  but  also  in  the 
matter  of  what  time  and  attention  shall  be  given  it. 
This  element  of  election,  joined  to  that  of  voluntary 
effort,  is  of  large  significance. 

Another  distinction  between  school  and  popular 
education  is  this  fact :  the  former  usually  is  endowed, 
either  by  the  state,  as  in  the  pubhc-school  system 
and  in  the  state  institutions,  or  by  private  munifi- 
cence; whereas  the  latter  is  for  the  most  part  de- 
pendent either  upon  the  effort  of  those  whose  inter- 
est is  excited  by  general  considerations  of  philan- 
thropy, or  else  upon  the  motives  which  control  in 
ordinary  business  enterprises. 

Having  now  determined  what,  for  our  study,  the 
term  "popular  education"  means,  we  must  next 
consider  what  may  be  included  from  one  point  of 
view  or  another  as  the  most  important  agencies  of 
popular  education.  I  shall  arrange  them  roughly 
in  three  groups.  The  first  will  include  the  agencies 
which  hqvp  to  ^0  T^'t^  rpadingr.  Here  belong: 
the  daily  newspaper,  which. .throws  mi.LiE6tni_day 
to  day  millions  on  millions  of  printed  sheets,  devoted 
to  the  world's  woe  or  welfare;  the  monthly  maga- 
zines which  lie  upon  the  tables  of  nearly  every 
home  in  ^.the,  ^.landy^^and  -which  yield  a  constantly 
increasing  contribution  to  the  culture  of  the  multi- 
tudes who  read  them;  and  the  current  literature  in 
book  form — an  agency  which  guides  and  elevates  the 
minds  of  the  morj„  thoughtful,  those  more  strongly 


TENDENCIES  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION      39 

inclined  to  work  out  in  serious  fashion  the  many 
problems  which  confront  the  thinking  man,  .  To 
this  group  belong,  also,  the  long  hst  of  organizations 
intended  to  encourage  the  reading  of  books,  among 
which  the  Chautauqua  holds  first  place. 

The  second  group  will  include  those  agencies 
which  suggest  a  more  thorough  study  of  important 
subjects  by  providing  definite  assistance,  or  by 
indirectly  forcing  their  consideration  upon  the 
"people  at  large.  Here  belong  organizations  in- 
tended to  guide  and  help  individual  workers,  and 
groups  of  workers;  such  as  the  university  extension, 
with  its  lecture  study,  its  syllabus,  its  classes,  and 
its  written  papers ;  the  correspondence  schools, 
which  number  their  pupils  by  tens  of  thousands; 
the  lyceum  lecture  courses,  undertaken  for  enter- 
tainment as  well  as  for  instruction,  and  capable  of 
producing  large  educational  results  when  under 
proper  control;  Chautauqua  assemblies,  through 
which  hundreds  of  thousands  receive  every  year 
inspiration  to  higher  thought  and  direction  in 
higher  hfe ;  educational  associations,  which  in  North, 
South,  East,  and  West  draw  together  in  helpful 
assembly  the  representative  minds  of  many  sections. 

Here  _belong,  too,  those  associations  intended 
to  develop  the  religious  side  of  man's  nature ;  such' 
as,  the  church,  the  Christian  Association,  the  Chris- 
tian Endeavor,  the  Sunday  school7-_all  of  which 
broaden  and  cultivate  those  who  open  their  minds 
to  the  sweet  and  ennobling  influences  of  the  religious 


40        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

spirit.  And  in  this  connection  we  must  not  overlook 
political  meetings  and  great  political  campaigns — 
all  of  which  fire  the  heart  and  educate  the  thought 
of  those  whose  minds  are  open  to  the  strong  and 
stirring  influences  of  the  true  patriotic  spirit;  nor 
those  public  gatherings  held  by  way  of  celebration 
of  great  deeds,  or  in  mourning  for  great  lives  ended; 
in  which  mind  is  brought  in  contact  with  mind, 
body  into  magnetic  touch  with  body;  in  which  is 
felt  the  awful  and  majestic  influence  of  great  num- 
bers; in  which  humanity,  not  individual  man, 
makes  known  its  feelings  and  its  faith. 

^To  the  third  group  we  may  assign  those  agencies, 
of  'a  character  far  less  tangible,  whose  influence,^ 
though  considerable,  is  perhaps  more  scattering. 
I  mean  such  as  travehng,  the  educational  value  of 
which,  whether  the  journey  be  in  one's  own  land 
or  abroad,  is  inestimable.  The  famous  caravan 
of  ancient  times  might  properly  have  been  called  a 
traveling  school.  The  well-organized  excursion 
trip  in  modern  times,  though  it  cover  only  a  hundred 
miles  of  travel,  is  an  educational  agency  of  the  high- 
est value.  A  good-  slogan  for  a  campaign  of  educa- 
tion would  be :  Get  away  from  home !  The  bicycle 
has  taught  some  people  more  than  they  have  ever 
learned  from  books.  Railroad  transportation  is  a 
subject  as  closely  connected  with  the  work  of  educa- 
tion as  with  any  work  of  a  commercial  character. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,   too,  business  enterprises 
constitute  a  factor  in  education  to  which  a  high 


TENDENCIES  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION      41 

place  must  be  assigned;  for  many  a  man  has  received 
a  better  education  in  a  business  house  than  he  could 
possibly  have  obtained  in  school  or  college.  Every 
honest  business  transaction  has  in  it  the  essential 
elements  of  educational  training.  Every  business 
enterprise  is  a  school  in  which  the  manager  is  prin- 
cipal, the  heads  of  departments  are  teachers,  the 
staff  of  employees  the  pupils.  Nay  more — ^it  is  a 
great  laboratory  in  which  men  by  working  together 
secure  results,  the  work  and  the  results  together 
exercising  an  educational  influence.  And  if  this 
be  in  any  sense  true  of  business  enterprises  in 
general,  it  is  peculiarly  true  of  the  industrial  under- 
takings which  cover  the  entire  face  of  our  beloved 
country.  Another  influence  of  a  popular  character, 
more  refining  perhaps  than  commerce,  and  perhaps 
equally  helpful,  exists  in  the  various  forms  of  art, 
which  find  expression  in  music,  in  museums  of 
painting  and  sculpture,  and  in  museums  which 
provide  collections  of  an  anthropological  character. 

Again,  the  fairs  in  olden  and  in  modern  times 
are  commonly  recognized  to  have  been  a  significant 
factor  in  the  education  of  the  people:  the  county 
fair,  the  state  fair,  the  exposition  of  a  country  or  of  a 
section  of  a  country,  and  last  of  all  the  international 
exposition.  In  the  effort  to  enumerate  the  separate 
agencies  contributing  to  popular  education,  I  might 
go  far  into  detail  but  what  I  have  given  will  be 
enough. 

Is  it  not  possible,  now,  for  us  to  think  of  these 


42        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

different  agencies  as  constituting  a  single  great 
division  of  effort — the  effort  put  forth  for  the  upHf ting 
of  mankind  which  seeks  thus  constantly  to  raise 
itself  ?  And  may  we  not  pass  a  kindly  judgment  on 
the  character  of  the  effort  thus  put  forth,  and  try  to 
determine,  at  least  in  general,  some  of  its  tendencies  ? 
The  thing  most  obviously  suggested,  by  the 
recital  of  such  a  list  as  that  just  given,  is  its  variety 
and  its  constantly  increasing  scope.  When  we 
remember  that  the  daily  newspaper  in  its  modern 
form,  as  well  as  the  magazine,  has  come  into  existence 
since  the  war;  that  such  agencies  as  Chautauqua 
assembhes  and  university  extension  are  scarcely 
twenty-five  years  old;  that  correspondence  schools 
and  educational  conferences  are  of  comparatively 
recent  origin;  that  the  Sunday  school  itself  is  scarcely 
more  than  a  century  old;  that  the  Christian  Associa- 
tion and  Christian  Endeavor  have  had  only  a  few 
years  of  existence ;  that  traveling,  in  any  large  sense 
of  that  term,  has  come  with  the  establishment  of 
railroads  and  telegraphs;  that  international  expo- 
sitions in  this  country  scarcely  go  back  farther  than 
to  1876 — we  are  in  a  position  to  appreciate  the  fact 
that  this  great  variety  is  something  really  recent, 
and  that  this  broadening  of  the  scope  of  popular 
education,  great  as  it  has  already  become,  is  only 
in  the  first  stages  of  a  development  which  gives 
promise  of  almost  infinite  enlargement.  The  differ- 
ent agencies  already  in  operation  are  being  intensified 
and  multipHed. 


TENDENCIES  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION     43 

And,  besides  those,  we  know  that  new  agencies, 
today  undreamed  of,  will  be  inaugurated.  Do  you 
ask  for  facts  which  point  in  this  direction?  I 
would  remind  you  of  the  use  to  which  school  build- 
ings in  many  rural  districts  and  in  cities  are  being 
put  for  the  uplifting  of  the  community  at  large; 
the  organization  of  parental  associations  for  the 
advancement  of  school  interests — a  plan  which 
makes  every  school  the  center  of  a  scheme  for  the 
education  of  the  people;  the  lecture  courses  con- 
ducted by  the  city  and  state  of  New  York,  in  every 
center  in  which  an  audience  will  gather — a  system 
that  will  surely  spread  itself  to  other  states;  the 
invention  of  attachments  for  the  organ  and  piano, 
by  use  of  which  the  wealth  of  classical  and  standard 
music  is  placed  within  the  reach  of  everyone;  the 
processes  of  reproduction,  by  means  of  which  the 
great  works  of  art  are  now  accessible  to  all  who 
desire  to  study  them;  the  increasing  number  of 
expositions  which  bring  the  world  and  the  world's 
ideas  and  productions  to  the  feet  of  him  who  may 
not  himself  go  around  the  world  to  search  them  out ; 
the  step  just  taken  in  the  organizing  of  the  General 
Education  Board  for  arousing  larger  educational 
interest  among  the  people  of  the  southern  states. 

Let  me  also  recall  to  mind  the  new  position 
assumed  by  great  institutions  of  learning  in  their 
attitude  toward  the  people  outside  their  walls; 
a  new  and  striking  attitude,  in  these  modern  days, 
of  scholarship  itself,  which  no  longer  is  a  thing  of 


44        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

the  monastery,  but,  like  wisdom  as  described  of 
old,  "standeth  in  the  top  of  high  places,  by  the 
way  in  the  places  of  the  path;  she  crieth  at  the 
gates,  at  the  entry  of  the  city,  at  the  coming  in  at 
the  doors:  Unto  you,  O  men,  I  call;  and  my  voice 
is  to  the  sons  of  men."^ 

All  this  signifies  that,  as  time  makes  requisition, 
new  forms  of  propaganda  will  suggest  themselves; 
new  agencies  will  grow  up;  a  variety  still  greater 
than  any  that  we  have  yet  seen  will  characterize 
this  work  which  is  still  only  in  its  infancy.  No 
one  for  instance,  will  dispute  the  statement  that 
today  many  of  the  people  are  engaged  in  study 
where  in  times  past  the  number  was  small.  Each 
century  seems  to  have  added  largely  to  the  number 
of  those  who  have  freed  themselves  from  the  thral- 
dom of  ignorance  and  superstition,  and  thereby 
have  gained  a  point  of  view  which  makes  thinking  a 
possibility.  The  progress  of  the  last  century  has 
been  the  result  of  the  work  of  millions,  not  hundreds ; 
and  the  immensity  of  this  progress,  as  compared 
with  that  of  preceding  centuries,  is  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  individuals  whose  minds  have 
been  awakened. 

Where  there  has  been  freedom  to  avail  oneself  of 
educational  advantages  there  has,  to  be  sure,  been 
conflict;  but  in  the  end  brightness  and  joy  have 
always  come.  On  the  other  hand,  dreary  and  waste 
is  the  country  in  which  the  people  are  not  thus 

«Prov.  8:2-4 


TENDENCIES  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION      45 

encouraged  to  improve  themselves.  Today,  as  com- 
pared with  past  ages  many  more  are  thinking 
into  fundamental  problems;  but  still  more  will 
tomorrow  be  thinking  into  these  problems;  for 
humanity  is  just  beginning  to  enjoy  the  sweetness 
of  hberty;  and  liberty  is  something  a  taste  of  which 
creates  an  appetite  which  not  even  heaven  can 
repress  so  long  as  legitimate  satisfaction  is  denied. 

Another  tendency  of  popular  education,  which 
is  very  marked,  and  exhibits  itself  in  connection 
with  nearly  every  agency  now  in  operation,  is  the 
greater  depth  of  thought  which  it  provokes. 

We  see,  for  instance,  that  the  truth  on  many 
subjects  is  possessing  the  minds  of  the  masses  in  a 
more  definite  and  tangible  way  than  heretofore. 
The  people  at  large  are  thinking  about  matters  of 
a  fundamental  character,  because  the  people  as 
such  are  being  educated.  Every  generation,  being 
the  heir  of  preceding  generations,  comes  into  an 
accumulated  inheritance  which  actually  compels 
wide,  and  consequently  deeper,  consideration  of 
all  that  relates  to  Hfe.  The  agencies  mentioned 
are  also  in  part  the  occasion  of  this  tendency  to 
deeper  thought;  in  part  they  are  the  product  of  it. 
Institutions,  for  instance,  are  devised  and  adapted 
to  meet  the  demands  of  a  situation.  With  the 
progress  of  civilization  the  Kfe  of  the  people  becomes 
more  and  more  compHcated;  and  the  problems  of 
such  life  are  necessarily  more  and  more  difficult 
of  settlement.     Consequently,  every  effort  to  solve 


46        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

these  problems  carries  deep  and  deeper  the  thought 
of  those  engaged  in  the  solution.  The  upheavals 
of  society,  symptoms  of  which  appear  on  all  sides, 
are  a  single  illustration  of  this  thought.  This 
social  unrest,  wherever  found,  arises  from  the 
determination  to  settle  great  and  important  ques- 
tions in  a  new  way. 

And  so  to  all  that  body  of  intellectual  effort  the 
purpose  of  which  is  to  secure  an  adjustment  of 
relationships  already  established,  in  so  far  as  this 
is  the  outgrowth  of  a  general  co-operation  both 
intelligent  and  philanthropic,  no  objection  can  be 
raised.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  such  effort  has 
its  origin  in  the  desire  of  a  few  to  overturn  existing 
institutions  in  order  that  they,  perhaps,  may  receive 
personal  benefit — when  such  education  ceases  to 
lead  man  to  grapple  with  fundamental  problems, 
and  becomes  something  superficial,  and  therefore 
indifferent  to  the  simplest  principles  of  right  and 
wrong^a  time  has  come  for  serious  consideration, 
and  the  question  should  be  asked:  What  can  be 
done  so  to  affect  popular  education  that  it  shall  be 
controlled  more  generally  by  stronger  and  higher 
principles  of  ethics  ? 

But  we  must  not  ask  that  popular  education 
shall  cease  because  in  depth  and  character  it  does 
not  at  once  assume  a  satisfactory  form.  It  is 
enough  to  note  that  there  is,  all  the  while,  an  im- 
provement; and  our  faith  in  humanity  and  its  future, 
based  upon  the  experience  of  the  past,  should  enable 


TENDENCIES  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION      47 

us  to  overlook  the  imperfections  of  the  present, 
even  though  they  may  be  many. 

But  now  let  us  ask  ourselves:  Granting  that 
popular  education  affects  a  large  and  larger  number; 
granted  that  it  strikes  deep  and  deeper;  is  it  also 
becoming  more  and  more  pervasive?  This  is  not 
a  necessary  conclusion  from  the  other  statements. 
What  do  I  mean  by  a  growing  pervasiveness? 
That  a  spirit  of  eagerness,  of  interest,  of  ambition 
is  gradually  transforming  the  activity  of  the  masses; 
that  a  spirit  of  intelHgence  is  everywhere  more 
apparent,  the  influence  of  which  each  year  touches 
more  largely  the  life  of  every  man  among  the  mil- 
lions who  call  America  their  home;  and  that  the 
force  of  this  educational  influence  is  felt  in  the 
higher  ideals  which,  as  can  easily  be  seen,  are  con- 
troUing  the  thought  and  work  of  our  country's 
multitudes;  felt  likewise  in  their  readiness  to  put 
aside  the  narrow  prejudices  of  a  section,  and  take  on 
the  name  and  spirit  and  strength  of  a  nation.  With 
this  interpretation  of  the  word  *' pervasiveness"  we 
see  clearly  that  the  proposition  holds  good :  Popular 
education  is  going  deeper;  it  is  also  becoming  more 
pervasive. 

A  study  of  the  agencies  which,  at  the  present 
time,  contribute  to  the  education  of  the  people  in  an 
informal  way  reveals  another  interesting  feature — 
that  the  work  in  general  is  growing  more  and  more 
systematic,  and  to  this  end  institutional.  Until  recent 
years  all  influence  of  this  kind  was  exerted  in  a  hap- 


48        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

hazard  sort  of  fashion.  It  was,  indeed,  chaotic;  there 
was  Uttle  or  no  organization  of  any  form.  But  out 
of  this  disorder  there  is  plainly  coming  something 
like  system. 

Different  classes  now  find  special  plans  and  meth- 
ods of  educational  work  adapted  to  their  particular 
needs.  No  better  illustration  of  this  fact  can  be 
asked  for  than  the  organization  involved  in  the 
make-up  of  the  typical  daily  newspaper,  including, 
as  it  does,  not  merely  the  news  and  the  editorial 
page,  but  also  the  pages  devoted  to  instruction, 
now  in  literature,  again  in  history,  still  again  in 
technology,  or  poHtical  science,  or  some  other  sub- 
ject of  equal  educational  value;  the  selections  of 
classical  and  standard  poetry,  the  reading  of  which 
will  stimulate  higher  ideals  along  this  line  or  that; 
the  reproduction  in  beautiful  form  of  some  flower, 
bird,  or  perhaps  some  anthropological  study.  It 
is  not  exaggeration  to  say  that  in  its  best  type  the 
daily  newspaper  is  not  merely  a  popular  educator; 
it  is  a  popular  educational  institution  organized 
to  meet  the  demands  of  the  millions  who  look  to  it 
from  morning  to  morning  for  help,  stimulus,  and 
nourishment.  If  this  be  true  of  the  da'ly  paper, 
how  much  more  true  of  the  magazine  which  for 
ten  cents  gives  its  readers  the  results  of  expert  work 
in  a  score  of  departments,  all  brought  together  to 
furnish  information,  to  incite  thought,  to  encourage 
the  cultivation  of  higher  aspirations.  Institutional 
organization  is  seen  even  more  definitely  in  the 


TENDENCIES  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION     49 

countless  reading  circles  of  various  kinds  which 
are  taking  form;  in  the  gradual  substitution  of  the 
extension  course  of  lectures  systematically,  arranged, 
for  the  hit-or-miss  lecture  of  the  lyceum;  in  the 
splendidly  conceived  programme  of  a  Chautauqua 
assembly;  in  the  orderly  presentation  of  educational 
material  from  the  pulpit;  in  the  Christian  Associa- 
tions; and  also  in  the  system  and  organization  which, 
within  a  few  years,  have  been  developed  in  the 
Sunday-school  field.  In  some  quarters  traveling 
has  become  an  institutional  affair,  and  in  most 
cases  it  is  now  undertaken  with  a  definite  purpose 
and  under  organized  guidance.  This  tendency 
toward  institutional  organization,  like  all  the  others, 
will  certainly  move  very  rapidly  in  the  near  future; 
for,  as  experience  shows,  institutional  effort,  once 
started,  develops  with  irresistible  momentum. 

Still  another  characteristic  of  this  new  move- 
ment in  popular  education  is  its  scientific  character. 
We  can  all  see  that  popular  thinking  is  coming 
to  be  more  scientific.  I  mean  this  in  the  narrow 
and  also  in  the  broad  sense  of  the  word  "scientific." 
The  thinking  of  today  has  to  do  with  what  we  call 
science.  A  century  ago  there  was  really  no  such 
thing  as  science.  The  laws  of  nature  were  still  a 
secret.  There  had  been  much  observation,  but 
this  was  for  the  most  part  indefinite,  imperfect, 
unco-ordinated.  The  circle  of  scientific  investi- 
gation has  now,  however,  gradually  extended  itself, 
until  it  includes  everything,  from  God  himself  to 


so        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

the  most  insignificant  atom  of  his  creation.  Laws 
have  been  discovered,  scientific  methods  established, 
in  the  employment  of  which  new  laws  will  surely 
come  to  fight;  and  all  laws,  new  and  old,  are,  or 
are  to  be,  the  possession,  the  working  capital,  of 
the  people  at  large.  The  influence  on  farming  of 
the  scientific  work  done  in  agricultural  lines  is  an 
example  of  what  I  mean.  The  readiness  of  men 
and  boys  in  all  our  cities  to  do  night  work  in  sub- 
jects connected  with  electricity  and  mechanics  bears 
also  upon  this  point.  The  introduction  of  the 
manual-training  idea  into  the  lower  forms  of  edu- 
cation is  still  another  example. 

Nor  is  this  all.  Indirectly  science  has  contributed 
much  more.  Popular  thinking,  in  reference  to 
matters  outside  the  realm  of  science,  has  come  to 
have  a  scientific  outward  expression  which  was 
before  unknown.  Accuracy  of  observation  and 
accuracy  of  statement,  neither  of  which  can  exist 
alone,  have  been  introduced,  and  this  introduction 
has  been  attended  with  radical  and  fundamental 
changes.  In  this  there  has  been  loss  as  well  as 
gain.  The  older,  innocent,  and  childish  ideahty 
is  giving  place  to  a  more  mature  but  unimaginative 
realism — a  realism,  indeed,  which  in  some  cases  has 
gone  too  far,  and  from  which  there  will  come  a 
reaction.  This  extreme  tendency  is  seen  in  the 
proposition  to  abolish  Mother  Goose  from  the 
nursery.  Science  and  the  scientific  method,  there- 
fore, now  dominate,  and  their  influence  is  to  be 


TENDENCIES  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION      51 

traced  in  popular  as  well  as  in  more  scholarly  thought, 
in  moral  as  well  as  in  intellectual  life. 

Popular  education  is  growing  scientific;  not  in 
the  sense  that  the  people  can  ever  learn  much  con- 
cerning the  facts  of  science  in  any  of  its  departments ; 
nor  in  the  sense  that  the  great  principles  of  science 
will  enter  largely  into  popular  conceptions  of  Hfe 
and  truth;  but  rather  in  that  simple  sense  that 
accurate  methods  of  thought  will  be  inculcated ; 
that  truth  as  it  is  accepted  will  be  something  truer 
than  it  would  have  been,  something  more  absolute. 

And,  finally,  the  movement  in  popular  education 
is  proceeding  upon  levels  that  are  more  ethical, 
more  spiritual.  It  is  not  merely  the  practical 
that  interests  and  occupies  the  public  mind.  The 
ideal,  in  spite  of  the  teachings  of  science,  plays  a 
large  part  in  the  constantly  shifting  scenes  of  the 
drama  of  human  hfe. 

This  it  is  that  gives  us  a  faith  based  on  hope,  in 
respect  to  the  future  of  the  race.  There  is  a  deal 
of  faith,  coupled  with  despair,  in  the  world.  It  is 
not  this  that  we  would  have,  but  rather  that  hopeful, 
radiant,  enthusiastic  faith  which  carries  one  over 
and  through  everything  suggestive  of  difficulty.  And 
it  is  this  tendency  of  education  to  reach  up  for  the 
ideal,  I  say,  which  gives  ground  for  a  faith  in  the  future. 

The  people,  in  mass,  occupy  a  plane  far  higher 
than  that  occupied  by  any  one  generation  in  the 
past;  but  something  still  higher  is  possible,  and, 
being  possible,  must  be  attained.    Will  this  higher 


52        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

achievement  come  from  the  employment  of  a  more 
scientific  method  in  the  educational  work  intended 
for  the  people?  Greater  accuracy  is  still  to  be 
attained;  but  the  greatest  degree  of  accuracy, 
whether  of  method  or  of  form,  will  not  enable  them 
to  accomplish  what  they  desire.  Is  this  thing  to 
be  attained  by  leading  them  still  deeper  in  the  study 
of  the  problems  of  Ufe  and  living  ?  This  will  help, 
and  from  this  great  results  will  be  secured;  but  the 
thing  desired  will  be  found  to  lie  still  deeper.  Mate- 
rialism does  not  furnish  the  key  to  unlock  the  secrets 
of  the  future,  nor  will  it  provide  the  foundation  on 
which  the  future  welfare  of  the  people  can  find  any 
sure  resting-place.  The  visible  world  is  great, 
but  the  invisible  is  still  greater.  The  popular 
thought  must  rise  above  that  which  is  merely 
material;  it  must  grapple  the  problems  of  the 
unseen.  This  through  all  the  ages  has  been  the 
teaching  of  the  highest  thought.  It  has  been  this 
teaching  which  has  made  Christianity  the  mother 
of  progress  and  advancement.  And  when  this 
teaching  is  lost  sight  of,  when  the  world  is  satisfied 
with  the  things  which  it  can  touch  or  handle,  then 
there  comes  a  halt  in  the  onward  march,  a  breaking 
of  ranks,  and  an  abandonment  of  the  campaign 
for  liberty  and  truth. 

The  idealism  of  the  prophets  of  old  led  them  to 
paint  a  picture  which  is  only  now  beginning  to  be 
realized.  It  is  the  function  and  the  duty  of  some 
among  the  people  of  today  to  give  to  the  world  ideals 


TENDENCIES  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION      53 

which  a  thousand  years  hence  may  not  see  fulfilled. 
But  this,  you  will  say,  is  impractical;  it  is  visionary. 
My  answer  is,  No ;  for  these  same  prophets  of  old  were 
among  the  world's  greatest  reformers,  and  they  edu- 
cated the  nation  to  which  they  belonged  until  the 
nation  became,  in  turn,  the  leader  of  other  nations. 
The  greatest  piece  of  popular  education  the  world 
has  ever  seen  accompHshed  was  the  education  by 
prophet,  priest,  and  sage  of  the  Israelitish  nation, 
and  their  teaching  was  as  our  teaching  today  should 
be — ethical  in  the  highest  and  best  sense.  We  must 
confess  that  confusion  exists  in  the  minds  of  the 
masses;  confusion,  on  the  part  of  some,  in  respect 
to  the  most  elementary  principles  underlying  what 
is  conceived  to  be  right  and  wrong.  There  is  no 
standard  which  men  generally  accept,  and  because 
of  a  lack  of  such  a  standard  even  good  men  are 
everywhere  working  havoc  and  ruin.  There  are 
those  who  heap  reproach  upon  the  head  of  him 
who  professes  to  regulate  his  thinking  in  accordance 
with  ethical  principles,  such  a  thing  being  conceived 
to  be  truly  absurd.  But  patriots  and  poets,  preachers 
and  reformers,  prophets  and  apostles,  even  Jesus 
himself,  have  labored  quite  in  vain,  if  in  this  day  of 
advancing  thought  such  doctrine  shall  prevail. 
We  may  not  forget  the  words  of  the  Great  Teacher, 
or  the  example  which  he  set ;  and  so  long  as  these 
words  and  this  example  are  not  forgotten,  there  will 
be  an  incentive  and  stimulus  to  a  higher  and  nobler 
ethical  training  of  the  people. 


54        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

It  is  quite  unnecessary,  then,  to  be  despondent 
as  to  the  outcome  of  popular  education  in  this 
respect.  The  evidence  is  clear  to  him  who  will 
but  read  it,  that  a  higher  spiritual  element  is  indeed 
present  in  the  great  movement  of  modern  times. 
We  see  it  in  the  processes  employed  and  in  the 
results  already  attained.  We  feel  it  in  every  cry 
that  comes  from  the  heart  of  the  masses;  for  these 
are  not  the  instinctive  cries  of  animals  sufifering 
pain;  they  are  rather  prayers  going  forth  to  heaven 
from  souls  whose  faith,  though  perhaps  clouded,  is 
nevertheless  strong  and  sincere. 


Ill 

THE  UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS 
EDUCATION 

A  UNIVERSITY  founded  and  conducted  by  the 
state,  it  is  generally  conceded,  may  not  under  any 
circumstances  devote  its  energy  to  subjects  relating 
to  religion  or  theology.  This  question  is  entirely 
separate  from  that  other  question  of  the  Bible  in 
the  public  schools  which  has  furnished  an  oppor- 
tunity for  so  much  meaningless  as  well  as  acrid  dis- 
cussion. At  the  same  time,  the  principles  under- 
lying both  questions  are  practically  the  same,  and 
sooner  or  later  the  state  will  be  forced  to  consider 
more  definitely  and  scientifically  than  it  has  yet 
done  what  shall  be  its  policy  in  both  of  these  great 
fields  of  education,  the  lower  and  the  higher,  in  re- 
spect to  that  large  and  vital  group  of  subjects  which, 
in  theory  as  well  as  in  practice,  is  indissolubly 
associated  with  life  itself,  whatever  aspect  of  life 
may  be  considered.  It  is  not,  to  be  sure,  so  delicate 
a  task  to  take  up  this  question  from  the  point  of 
view  of  a  university  on  private  foundation;  but  if 
one  studies  the  attitude  ordinarily  assumed  by  col- 
leges and  by  universities,  he  must  infer  that  there 
exist  certain  unfortunate  difficulties  which  thus  far 
have  been  overcome,  if  overcome  at  all,  only  in 
part;   for  it  is  probably  true  that  those  institutions 

55 


56        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

founded  avowedly  as  Christian  colleges  all  through 
the  states  have  done  too  little  in  the  way  of  making 
provision  for  a  sound  religious  education  of  the  stu- 
dents committed  to  their  care;  while  in  the  larger 
institutions  or  universities  on  private  foundation — 
partly  because  of  ignorance  or  uncertainty  as  to 
the  definite  thing  which  should  be  done,  partly  also 
from  indifference,  and  partly  because  of  that  coward- 
ly spirit  which  too  frequently  in  these  days  charac- 
terizes even  good  men  and  good  institutions  in  con- 
nection with  anything  that  is  religious — the  entire 
matter  has  been  allowed  to  drift  on  and  on  with 
nothing  tangible  to  show  in  the  form  of  result. 

The  undesirability  of  maintaining  longer  this 
general  attitude  of  indifference  to  these  subjects; 
or,  to  put  it  positively,  the  desirability  of  meeting 
boldly  the  questions  involved  in  this  matter,  has 
been  felt  in  more  recent  years  by  many  institutions, 
and  by  many  of  those  who  are  concerned  with  the 
development  of  higher  education.  The  change  of 
attitude,  if  we  may  at  this  time  call  it  change,  is 
due  to  several  things,  viz.:  (i)  The  elevation  of  the 
study  of  biblical  history  and  literature  to  a  level, 
scientifically  considered,  with  that  of  other  history 
and  literature.  We  may  frankly  acknowledge  that 
the  methods  employed  almost  universally  twenty- 
five  years  ago  in  connection  with  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures — methods  still  in  vogue  in  many  quarters 
— were  unworthy,  not  only  of  the  subject  itself,  but 
of  any  place  in  an  institution  of  higher  learning. 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  57 

(2)  The  work,  moreover,  which  has  in  recent  years 
been  accomplished  by  eminent  psychologists,  along 
lines  relating  to  the  religious  life,  has  done  much 
to  lift  the  whole  subject  into  a  new  and  higher 
realm.  (3)  The  fact  that  the  college  curriculum 
has  been  broadened  to  include  subjects  relating  to 
all  the  phases  of  human  life  makes  it  possible 
to  introduce  subjects  that  have  to  do  with  the 
religious  phase.  But  it  may  not  be  said  that  these 
things  have  thus  far  produced  any  considerable  re- 
sults; and  no  one  for  a  moment  would  think  that 
the  interest  thus  far  shown,  or  any  multiplication 
of  it  which  may  come  in  the  next  years,  will  be 
interpreted  as  a  swinging  of  the  pendulum  back 
toward  the  older  conception  of  college  training  in 
accordance  with  which  it  was  for  the  most  part  re- 
stricted to  those  preparing  for  the  ministry.  The 
college  of  those  early  days  was  really  not  a  college, 
but  a  professional  school  planned  and  conducted 
for  the  education  of  a  certain  profession.  At  the 
present  time,  as  a  part  of  this  change  of  feeling  w^hich 
seems  to  be  manifesting  itself,  there  exists  a  very 
general  sentiment  that  the  time  has  come  to  go 
forward  more  definitely  and  more  strongly  in  the 
direction  that  has  been  indicated. 

But,  in  any  work  that  has  to  do  with  religious 
education,  the  university,  it  is  evident,  must  partici- 
pate. Such  participation,  all  will  grant,  is  strictly 
in  accordance  with  the  general  purpose  of  a  uni- 
versity.    If  the  higher  institutions  of  learning  in 


S8        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

recent  years  have,  with  a  remarkable  degree  of 
unanimity,  felt  the  demand  made  upon  them  to 
undertake  physical  education  as  a  necessary  part 
of  the  college  and  university  work,  it  will  hardly  be 
possible  to  draw  a  line  that  will  shut  out  religious 
education.  And  if,  on  the  other  hand,  from  the 
earliest  times,  the  college  or  university  has  engaged 
in  the  technical  work  of  religious  and  theological 
education,  in  so  far  as  that  had  to  do  with  training 
the  chief  agent  of  reHgious  education,  the  minister, 
it  will  be  found  even  more  difficult  today  to  with- 
draw from  a  work  which  has  always  been  regarded 
as  legitimately  that  of  the  college  or  university. 
Moreover,  if  the  study  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  is 
associated  with  the  study  of  the  philology  and 
literature  of  great  nations  of  antiquity,  as  well  as 
with  psychology,  and  with  the  history  and  sociology, 
of  the  past,  in  a  sense  perhaps  in  which  no  other 
subject  has  connection  with  these  topics;  if  the  sub- 
ject of  reHgious  education  from  the  pedagogical  point 
of  view  has  come  to  be  recognized  as  really  a  psycho- 
logical subject  and  as  an  important  factor  in  the  his- 
tory of  every  human  being  from  a  psychological 
point  of  view;  if,  still  further,  the  great  discipHne 
of  theology  is  today  inseparably  associated  with 
philosophy  and  ethics  and  science,  how  is  it  pos- 
sible for  a  university,  if  it  is  to  have  departments  of 
philology  and  Hterature  and  history  and  sociology, 
departments  of  science  and  philosophy,  ethics  and 
psychology,  to  ignore  the  consideration  of  these  ques- 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  59 

tions  with  which  a  sound  religious  education  is  con- 
cerned? In  all  lines  of  intellectual  inquiry — and 
the  subject  of  religious  education  may  not  be  excluded 
from  this  field — the  university  is  confessedly  the 
leader  in  a  community,  there  being  assigned  to  it 
the  peculiar  function  of  preparing  the  way  in  which 
others  shall  tread. 

At  this  point  a  word  of  explanation  seems  to  be 
called  for.  No  one  will  suppose  that  the  work  of  a 
university  in  religious  education  shall  be  regarded  in 
any  sense  as  a  substitute,  either,  on  the  one  hand, 
for  the  fundamental  work  of  the  home,  or,  on  the 
other,  for  the  more  distinctly  technical  work  of  the 
church.  .Whatever  the  university  may  do  in  this 
regard  will  sustain  the  same  relationship  to  these 
great  agencies  that  it  sustains  to  every  other  phase 
of  life  and  thought.  The  influence  of  the  university 
is  felt  today  in  every  home  in  which  books  are  read 
or  the  problems  of  life  are  pondered.  It  is  felt 
likewise  in  every  church  in  which  there  exists  an 
intelligent  desire  to  throw  off  the  superstitions  of 
the  past  and  to  take  hold  of  the  higher  faith  of 
modern  thought.  The  university  can  only  co-operate 
with  these  important  agencies  in  doing  work  that  will 
be  suggestive  and  helpful  to  those  who  find  them- 
selves called  to  labor  in  the  relations  of  home  and 
church. 

The  situation  in  general  is  somewhat  discourag- 
ing. The  world  at  large  remainSj^  for  the  most  part, 
in  total  ignorance  of  those  laws  of  life  which  regu- 


6o        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

late  and  control  the  development  of  the  religious 
spirit.  Just  as  in  many  individual  cases  and  in 
entire  communities  the  laws  of  physical  life  or  health 
are  unknown  or  ignored,  and  there  follows,  not  of 
course  complete  cessation  of  life,  but  the  develop- 
ment of  disease  or  of  some  abnormal  form  of  life, 
so  in  individual  cases  and  in  entire  communities, 
in  which  the  laws  of  religious  life  are  for  ..the  most 
part  unknown  or  treated  as  unknown,  there  come 
to  be  forms  of  that  rehgious  life  so  distorted,  or  per- 
haps so  stunted,  as  almost  to  be  unrecognizable. 
And  it  is  also  true  that,  as  ignorance  and.  disregard 
of  physical  laws  frequently  lead  to  loss  of  life  itself, 
or  death,  so  ignorance  or  disregard  of  the  laws  of 
religious  life  is  surely  followed  by  the  giving  up,  for 
all  practical  purposes,  of  a  religious  life;  in  other 
words,  abandonment  of  one  great  phase  of  life  itself. 
The  analogy  might  be  roughly  pressed  still  farther. 
In  the  lower  orders  of  human  intelligence,  life  is 
preserved,  in  spite  of  ignorance  of  its  laws,  by  a 
certain  sort  of  instinct  which  leads  the  individual  to 
see  that  which  will  be  helpful,  and  to  avoid  that 
which  will  be  injurious.  This  instinct  the  animals 
share  with  humanity.  A  kind  Providence,  one  may 
imagine,  has  provided  a  similar  religious  instinct  in 
man;  and  a  rehgious  life  of  low  order  continues  to 
exist  even  in  an  environment  of  darkness  and  in- 
difference to  all  that  really  constitutes  the  higher 
and  stronger  features  of  that  life.  We  may  not  ^ 
forget  that  the  different  religions,  the  different  sects 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  6i 

or  divisions  of  a  particular  religion,  represent  differ- 
ent strata  in  the  development  of  the  religious  life. 
Over  against  this  condition  of  things  in  the  world  at 
large  there  has  come  to  exist,  among  those  who 
style  themselves  the  more  intelligent  class,  or  per- 
haps those  who  may  be  properly  called  the  more 
learned,  a  certain  contempt  for  the  lower  mani- 
festations of  the  rehgious  life,  and  for  the  strange 
and  fantastic  methods  adopted  in  its  cultivation. 

At  this  point  we  may  notice  a  strangelyin  con- 
sistent thing  which  sometimes  presents  itself.  Men 
and  women  of  the  highest  intelligence  in  matters  of 
life  and  thought  are  discovered  to  be  cultivating  a 
rehgious  life  far  below  the  plane  of  their  intellectual 
life.  In  many  of  these  cases  this  religious  life  is 
cultivated  most  zealously,  and  sometimes  it  would 
seem  that  the  zeal  was  in  proportion  to  the  ignorance 
involved.  Methods  which  would  be  instantly  re- 
jected as  unworthy  in  connection  with  other  phases 
oi  life  are  accepted  and  followed  by  these  persons 
in  connection  with  their  reHgious  life.  A  single 
illustration  will  suffice.  A  teacher  in  the  public 
schools,  trained  in  all  the  modern  methods  of  peda- 
gogy, will  do  work  of  a  most  modern  and  scientific 
character  through  five  days  of  the  week.  That  same 
teacher  in  a  Sundafy  school  will  give  instruction 
which  is  of  an  infinitely  lower  grade,  and  will 
undertake  the  religious  work  with  a  lack  of  knowl- 
edge of  her  subject  which  she  would  regard  as 
disgraceful   in   connection  with   her   regular  work 


62        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

throughout  the  week.  A  company  of  intelligent 
men,  officers  of  a  Sunday  school,  will  intrust  the 
religious  education  of  the  children  on  Sunday  to 
persons  whose  average  intelligence,  not  to  speak  of 
speCfai  preparation,  would  not  entitle  them  to  be 
considered'  as  candidates  for  the  regular  work  of 
teaching.  It.  is  not  strange^  then,  that  those  who 
regard  these  matters  from  a  strictly  scientific  point 
of  view  hold  in  a  sort  of  contempt,  not  only  the 
workers  themselves,  but  the  methods  employed  and 
the  work  which  is  conducted  according  ta  these 
methods. 

This,  now,  has  been  the  poUcy  of  the  universi- 
ties, and  in  many  cases  of  the  colleges.  In  the  col- 
leges many  men,  entertaining  a  feeUng  of  this  kind, 
have,  nevertheless,  professed  a  greater  or  less  inter- 
est in  the  religious  Hfe,  because,  situated  as  they 
were  in  their  community,  this  was  a  necessary  thing 
to  do  in  order  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  com- 
munity. Unconsciously,  and  in  many  cases  con- 
sciously, they  have  permitted  themselves,  and  indeed 
forced  themselves,  to  encourage  and  develop  methods 
of  religious  education  which  in  their  inner  heart 
they  knew  to  be  false  and  injurious.  But  in  the 
freer  atmosphere  of  the  larger  institutions,  as  well 
as  in  the  freer  atmosphere  of  city  life,  as  distinguished 
from  country  life,  men  have  put  aside  what  were 
regarded  as  conventional  obligations,  and,  with  a 
sigh  of  relief,  have  ceased  to  think  or  to  act  in  co- 
operation with  what   are  known   as  the  religious 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  63 

forces  of  the  community.  Inasmuch  as  the  uni- 
versity, in  the  estimation  of  its  representatives,  could 
not  conscientiously  do  for  the  student  along  religious 
lines  that  which  this  lower  conception  of^reHgious 
education  demanded,  it  has  done  nothing',  and  the 
student  has  been  permitted,  and  indeed  forced,  as 
he  went  forward  in  his  intellectual  work,  to  break 
wholly  or  in  part,  with  the  traditions  and  traditional 
methods  of  his  early  youth,  in  so  far  as  these  have 
had  to  do  with  religion  or  the  religious  life.  Col- 
lege and  university  training,  in  short,  has  been 
largely  lacking  in  everything  that  directly  concerns 
the  development  of  the  religious  side. 

One  more  feature  of  the  situation  deserves  con. 
sideration.  Inasmuch  as  the  problems  of  life  in 
general  are  worked  out  more  largely  in  the  uni- 
versity and  college  than  anywhere  else,  institutions 
of  higher  learning  having  come  to  be  regarded  as 
leaders  in  the  work  of  solving  problems  in  every 
realm  of  life,  the  fact  that  the  problems  of  religious 
life  have  been  neglected  in  the  university  and  college 
means  that  they  have  been  altogether  neglected.  The 
theological  seminaries  of  the  country  have  not  been 
intended  to  serve  as  laboratories  for  the  working 
out  of  problems,  but  as  training  schools  for  the 
instruction  of  expert  propagandists,  and  the  success 
of  these  training  schools  has  been  measured  by  their 
ability  to  turn  out  men  of  exactly  the  same  pattern 
as  the  officers  engaged  in  the  work  of  instruction. 
Any  variation  from  the  traditional  point  of  view 


\ 


64        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

adopted  by  those  in  control  of  a  particular  insti- 
tution has  immediately  called  for  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline. It  is  doubtful  whether  in  the  last  fifty 
years  a  single  important  problem  relating  to  the 
religious  life  and  education  has  been  solved  in  the 
theological  seminaries  of  the  United  States. 

The  consequence  of  all  this  has  been  that  prob- 
lems of  the  most  vital  character  have  existed,  while 
apparently  no  attempt  was  being  made  toward  their 
solution.  As  in  the  past,  so  in  the  present,  the 
solution  of  these  problems  will  not  come  from  the 
church  or  its  established  schools.  The  denomi- 
national machinery  in  every  case  is  too  largely 
occupied  in  propagating  its  own  ideas  and  interests 
exactly  as  they  have  been  in  vogue  throughout  the 
years.  ■  The  solution  of  these  difficult  questions  must 
come,  if  it  come  at  all,  largely  from  men  who  are 
not  biased  by  ecclesiastical  influence.  The  uni- 
versity, in  other  words,  must  devote  itself,  at  least 
in  part,  to  the  working  out  of  these  grave  questions. 
This  is  a  true  part  of  its  function  and  falls  defi- 
nitely and  directly  within  its  scope. 

We  may  not  lose  sight  of  the  important  fact  that 
the  home  and  the  church  have  each  its  work;  but 
with  this  definitely  in  mind,  we  ask:  What  is  it 
that  the  university  may  reasonably  be  expected  to  do  ? 

First  of  all,  then,  the  university  is  unquestion- 
ably the  agency  through  which  there  shall  be  insti- 
tuted such  investigations  as  those  to  which  reference 
has  been  made.    This  is  true  because  so  large  a 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  65 

part  of  the  fundamental  work  necessary  for  these 
investigations  is  already  established  in  the  uni- 
versity. If,  for  example,  the  research  proposed  is 
to  deal  with  biblical  material,  departments  already 
exist  which  are  equipped  for  just  this  work.  The 
same  thing  holds  good  if  it  Hes  along  the  Hnes  of 
psychology,  philosophy,  history,  or  even  the  more 
practical  field  of  pedagogy.  It  is  a  question,  indeed, 
whether  such  investigations  can  be  made  to  any  con- 
siderable advantage  outside  of  the  university.  More- 
over, there  exists  in  the  university  the  spirit  of 
research,  without  which  no  effort  of  this  kind  will 
be  successful.  Under  ordinary  circumstances,  it  is 
only  in  a  friendly  environment  that  investigation  is 
likely  to  be  prosecuted.  For  the  highest  culti- 
vation of  art,  in  any  of  its  several  departments,  one 
must  seek  an  atmosphere  which  is  friendly  to  its 
cultivation.  How  different,  for  example,  was  the 
attitude  toward  art  which  manifested  itself  in  ancient 
times,  on  the  one  hand  in  Israel,  and  on  the  other 
hand  in  Greece !  In  one  country,  art  of  every  kind 
was  placed  under  a  ban,  because  the  leaders  of  the 
people  beheved  it  to  be  inseparably  associated  with 
a  form  of  religious  beHef  entirely  hostile  to  the  great 
ideas  of  God  which  they  were  making  strenuous 
effort  to  inculcate  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  In 
the  other  country  nothing  existed  either  in  nature 
or  in  the  life  of  the  people  that  did  not  encourage 
the  development  of  art  and  make  contributions  to 
its  culture.     The  spirit  of  research  in  any  line  of 


66        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

modem  knowledge  is  something  exceedingly  deli- 
cate, requiring  constant  encouragement,  and  pos- 
sible only  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances. 
For  the  best  interests,  then,  of  rehgious  education 
the  university  should  undertake  those  pieces  of  in- 
vestigation which  wijl  place  in  a  newer  and  truer 
light  the  fundamental  principles  of  education  as 
they  are  applied  to  the  rehgious  field.  Nor  can  the 
university  from  its  own  point  of  view  afford  to  neg- 
lect this  fruitful  line  of  work.  It  has  already  been 
suggested  that  in  the  work  of  many  of  its  depart- 
ments it  finds  itself  forced  to  take  up  questions  di- 
rectly involving  the->problems  of  religion  or  theology. 
This  appears  in  connection  with  philosophy  and  psy- 
chology, history  and  sociology,  Enghsh  and  modern, 
literature;  while  the  problems  of  the  great  fields  of 
science  in  every  case  resolve  themselves  finally  into 
questions  which  are  more  or  less  closely  connected 
with  this  all- comprehensive  subject.  If  one  attempts 
to  separate  rehgion,  rehgious  thought,  and  rehgious 
hfe  from  these  various  fields  of  inquiry,  he  will  soon 
find  that  such  effort  is  impracticable.  So  closely  in- 
terwoven have  been  the  hues  of  secular  and  religious 
thought  through  all  the  past,  as  well  as  in  modem 
times,  that  they  may  not  be  sharply  separated. 

Two  or  three  practical  results  will  follow  the 
taking  up  of  these  problems  by  the  university:  (i) 
The  subject  of  rehgious  education,  and  indeed  the 
subject  of  religion  itself,  will  be  elevated  and  digni- 
fied in  the  minds  of  a  great  body  of  people  by  whom, 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  67 

perhaps,  the  claims  of  religion  have  not  hitherto 
been  strongly  felt.  We  do  not  mean  to  imply  that 
religion  itself  will  be  dignified  or  elevated;  that  is 
impossible.  But  in  the  estimation  of  a  great  class 
of  people  who  have  not  given  to  religion  its  proper 
place,  there  will  be  an  added  dignity,  and  conse- 
quently a  larger  interest.  (2)  There  is  nothing 
more  essential  for  the  advancement  of  rehgion,  as 
well  as  for  that  of  religious  education,  than  that 
it  should  be  treated  with  respect  and  reverence; 
and  this  will  be  one  of  the  results  of  the  intro- 
duction of  this  policy  by  the  university.  The  very 
fact  that  these  are  problems  on  which  learned  and 
scientific  men  are  at  work;  the  fact  that  they 
are  deemed  worthy  of  a  place  side  by  side  with 
the  problems  of  other  great  departments,  will 
have  great  influence  in  securing  for  them,  not  only 
the  dignified  place  to  which  they  are  entitled,  but 
also  that  more  delicate  sentiment  of  respect  and 
appreciation.  (3)  Inasmuch  as  it  has  been  so 
widely  felt  that  the  rehgious  feehng  was  something 
pecuhar  to  women  and  weak  men,  and  inasmuch 
as  every  abuse  of  thought  and  conduct  has  been 
practiced  in  the  name  of  religion,  all  this  tending  to 
the  degradation  of  that  which  was  most  holy,  there 
is  actual  need  of  some  objective  movement  which, 
in  a  measure  at  least,  shall  counteract  the  de- 
basing influence  of  so  many  other  movements  in 
their  relation  to  religion.  Just  such  an  elevating 
and  helpful  influence,  it  is  beheved,  will  be  found 


68        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

in  this  new  attitude  of  higher  institutions  of  learn- 
ing toward  the  scientific  consideration  of  problems 
connected  with  religion  and  the  rehgious  Ufe. 

If  it  is  asked,  What  shall  be  the  nature  of  these 
investigations?  one  need  only  refer  to  what  has 
already  been  done  in  the  papers  and  volumes  pub- 
lished by  university  men  within  five  years,  and  to 
the  interest  already  shown  by  scientific  scholars  in 
questions  relating  to  the  development  of  the  religious 
side  of  the  child  in  accordance  with  the  laws  which 
have  been  made  known  in  connection  with  anthro- 
pological and  psychological  science.  These  studies, 
already  noteworthy  in  character  as  well  as  in  prin- 
ciple, give  promise  of  a  splendid  work.  The  num- 
ber of  the  men  who  are  today  devoting  themselves 
exclusively  to  the  consideration  of  these  questions  is 
already  considerable,  and  the  field  is  at  once  so  large 
and  so  attractive  that  within  a  short  time  the  number 
of  such  workers  will  be  greatly  increased. 

The  university  may  likewise  offer  instruction  in 
those  subjects  which  contribute  to  a  better  concep- 
tion of  religious  education.  In  making  provision 
of  this  kind,  consideration  will  be  given  to  the  classes 
of  students  for  which  the  university  is  responsible, 
and  to  the  special  work  in  various  departments  which 
^*-^j3ears  upon  the  subject.  In  so  far  as  possible,  the 
university  should  encourage  schools  preparing  stu- 
dents for  college  to  provide  the  opportunity  of  making 
preparation  in  the  subject  of  biblical  literature  and 
history.     Whatever  may  be  the  point  of  view  from 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  69 

which  the  subject  is  considered,  the  inevitable  con- 
clusion is  that  biblical  history  and  literature,  in  view 
of  their  prominence  in  the  history  of  the  past,  and 
in  view  of  their  influence  in  modern  history  and 
thought,  deserve  a  place  side  by  side  with  other 
ancient  history  and  literature.  In  making  this  sub- 
ject a  possibility  in  the  preparatory  curriculum,  one 
has  in  mind,  of  course,  a  kind  of  work  which  will  be 
as  severe  in  its  character  as  any  work  of  a  similar 
nature  in  the  schedule  of  studies.  The  instruction 
in  the  university  itself  must  be  adapted  to  differ- 
ent classes  of  students.  There  will  be  undergradu- 
ates who  choose  this  subject,  as  they  would  any  other 
subject,  for  the  sake  of  a  liberal  education;  graduate 
students,  who  are  preparing  themselves  to  teach  in 
one  or  the  other  departments  concerned;  divinity 
students,  who  require  work  of  this  kind  as  a  part  of 
their  technical  training.  In '^IMs "" wEy^fEfee  ^grea^^ 
groups  of  students  are  brought  into  contact  with  the 
w^ork.  But  as  in  other  subjects,  so  also  in  this,  the 
responsibility  of  the  university  goes  farther  and 
should  include  provision  for  courses  of  lectures  on 
subjects  relating  to  religious  education  in  the  various 
departments  concerned ;  correspondence  courses  like- 
wise for. those  who  are  unable  to  avail  themselves  of 
other  privileges  offered  in  this  line,  as  well  as  courses 
of  reading  for  individual  students  and  for  groups. 
Perhaps,  at  present,  nothing  more  should  be 
suggested  than  the  work  already  mentioned,  but 
in  the  future  there  is  no  reason  why  other  work 


70        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

may  not  be  included  under  this  head.  There  is 
something  fundamentally  right  in  the  German  usage 
which  includes  religion  as  one  of  the  subjects  of 
study  from  the  earliest  stages  of  the  child's  edu- 
cational development.  We  may  not  feel  that  the 
German  plan  has  been  successful  in  all  particulars; 
indeed,  we  may  be  quite  sure  that,  as  at  present 
arranged,  it  is  the  source  of  very  great  injury  to 
many;  but  no  one  can  doubt  that  great  good  has 
been  accomplished,  and  that  the  sturdiness  and 
strength  of  German  character  today  are  in  some 
measure  to  be  attributed  to  this  important  factor 
in  the  education  of  the  German  youth.  As  the 
term  ''religious"  is  today  used,  it  includes  also  the 
idea  of  the  ethical.  It  is  therefore  religion  and 
ethics  that  are  to  receive  attention  in  the  schedule 
fo  courses  offered.  The  work  proposed  will, 
roughly  speaking,  include  courses  in  biblical  lan- 
guages, as  well  as  in  biblical  history  and  literature; 
courses  in  psychology  and  pedagogy,  with  special 
reference  to  the  religious  side  of  the  human  develop- 
ment; courses  in  history  and  sociology  which  have 
to  do  with  the  progress  of  religion  in  the  past  and 
present;  courses  in  philosophy  and  science  which 
shall  deal  with  the  fundamental  truths  and  problems 
of  religion;  courses,  still  further,  in  comparative 
religion  in  which  the  history  and  ideas  of  the  world's 
great  religions  will  be  considered.  Here  is  oppor- 
tunity almost  unlimited;  and  when  we  stop  to  con- 
sider how  large  a  place  such  work  deserves,  and,  in 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  71 

comparison,  the  slight  attention  given  it  today,  the 
needs  appear  to  be  very  great.  Yet,  as  a  result  of 
all  this,  much  may  be  expected  to  come  in  the  way 
of  larger  horizon,  greater  sympathy  for  the  religious 
spirit,  and,  in  any  case,  a  higher  respect  for  its 
manifestation. 

The  duty  of  the  university  will  not  be  performed 
unless  it  shall  make  provision  for  religious  education 
on  the  practical  side.  The  character  and  the  value 
of  education  in  any  realm  depend  upon  the  results 
which  such  education  is  able  to  achieve.  It  is  neces- 
sary, however,  that  the  practical  factor  in  all  educa- 
tional work  shall  be  emphasized  side  by  side  with 
the  theoretical.  To  this  end  the  university  should 
constitute  itself  a  laboratory  in  which  there  shall  be 
a  working  place  for  every  member  of  the  institution. 
If  religion  means  anything,  and  if  rehgious  educa- 
tion has  a  function  to  perform,  this  meaning  and 
this  function  will  be  comprehended  and  defined  only 
as  the  work  implied  in  religion  and  necessary  to  its 
proper  cultivation  shall  be  performed.  This  is  only 
expressing  in  another  form  the  common  idea  that 
religion  is  a  life  which  we  live,  or  an  atmosphere 
which  we  breathe.  The  test  of  the  theory  pro- 
pounded in  the  various  courses  of  instruction  which 
are  adapted  to  the  needs  of  different  classes  of  stu- 
dents will  be  made  only  in  case  such  a  laboratory 
as  that  to  which  I  have  referred  is  recognized  as  in 
existence,  and  the  facilities  for  work  in  that  labora- 
tory ar0  properly  provided.     Each  individual  church 


72        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

is  itseK  a  laboratory  of  religion.     The  university 
may  not  call  itself  a  church,  nor  is  it  necessary  even 
to  organize  a  church  within  its  walls;  but  there  is 
no  department  of  research  or  study  in  a  university 
which  does  not  require  for  its  best  development  an 
opportunity  for  the  practical  application  of  the  truth 
which  it  discovers  or  promulgates.     It  is  the  greatest 
honor  to  an  institution  to  have  departments  of  pure 
science  thoroughly  established  and  strongly  manned; 
the  work  in  these    departments    being  rigorously 
restricted  to  research  and  instruction;  every  man 
being  far  removed  from  the  temptation  to  entertain 
the  thought  of  that  which  is  called  commercialism. 
But,  while  for  the  sake  of  the  work  in  these  depart- 
ments they  should  be  thus  limited  by  their  own  voli- 
tion, the  university  may  not  stop  here.     The  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  of  chemistry  and  physics  to 
life  in  all  its  various  phases  must  be  sought  out,  and 
this  practical  work,  the  work  of  the  technical  school, 
is  as  legitimate  a  part  of  the  university's  organiza- 
tion as  that  of  research  in  pure  science.     Shall  the 
university  be  limited  to  the  study  of  the  problems 
of  biology  as  they  are  conducted  in  the  several  de- 
partments  which  make   up   this   group — problem? 
of  the  purely  theoretical  kind,  such  as  the  origin  of 
species  or  the  laws  of  heredity  ?     Or  shall  it  go  for- 
ward and  establish  a  school  of  medicine  in  which 
the  great  truths  of  biological  science  are  applied  to 
relieve  human  suffering?    The  analogy  is  just  as 
true  in  the  case  of  history  and  sociology.     Shall  the 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  73 

university  content  itself  with  the  study  of  the  past, 
and  not  provide  also  for  the  encouragement  of  prac- 
tical work  in  those  subjects  in  which  the  present  is 
most  vitally  concerned  ?  And  shall  it  restrict  itself 
to  the  study  of  principles  of  social  ethics  without 
effort  of  any  kind  to  inculcate  those  principles  as 
the  basis  of  life  and  work  today?  The  university 
is  itself  a  life  and  an  atmosphere.  Its  students 
and  officers  of  instruction,  as  long  as  they  remain  a 
part  of  the  university,  cannot  cease  Hving  the  univer- 
sity life ;  and  this  life,  if  it  is  a  full  and  complete  one, 
must  include  the  religious  element.  The  university 
should  therefore  constitute  itself  a  laboratory  in 
which  practical  work  is  to  be  conducted;  work 
which  in  itself  will  give  occupation  of  a  kind  re- 
quired by  those  who  take  advantage  of  its  facilities ; 
work  also  through  which  perhaps  new  truth  may  be 
discovered,  or  new  relations  of  old  truth — and  this  is 
something  equally  advantageous ;  above  all,  perhaps 
a  place  in  which  old  and  new  truth  shall  become 
better  known  to  all  who  may  desire  it.  We  are  not 
to  forget  that  the  truth  in  any  line  of  thought  already 
known,  if  practically  applied,  will  contribute  greatly 
to  the  betterment  of  Ufe  and  thought. 

In  connection  with  this  laboratory,  the  university 
will  furnish  opportunity  for  continuing  the  religious 
life  begun  at  home  by  those  who  have  changed  their 
residence  to  the  university  community.  It  is  a  mis- 
take for  men  and  women  entering  upon  university 
life^o  feel  that  they  may  for  a  period  throw  aside  the 


74        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

restraints  and  the  duties  of  their  former  life.  It  is  a 
dangerous  mistake — one  that  has  occasioned  much 
suffering  and  great  loss.  With  the  intellectual 
growth  and  maturity  which  the  college  life  brings, 
there  should  be  a  corresponding  religious  growth; 
but  this  will  not  be  obtained  if  one  deliberately  re- 
moves himself  from  all  the  agencies  of  religious 
influence.  Nor  can  he  expect  to  take  up  the  reli- 
gious life  later  at  the  place  he  dropped  it.  He  may 
make  the  effort  to  do  this,  but  he  will  fail,  because 
his  old  religious  habit  or  thought  will  not  fit  into  his 
new  attitude  of  mind  after  three  or  four  years  of 
neglect.  It  is  as  if  a  man  of  twenty- two  or  three,  after 
having  added  twenty  pounds  of  flesh  and  grown  two 
or  three  inches  taller  during  his  college  Hfe,  should 
undertake  again  to  put  on  the  clothes  which  he  wore 
when  he  entered  college  as  a  freshman.  They  will 
not  fit.  And  what  does  he  do  ?  He  throws  them 
aside;  what  else  can  he  do  ?  The  religious  thought 
and  spirit  of  one  stage  of  intellectual  development  will 
not  suit  a  later  stage,  and,  being  insufficient,  will  be 
altogether  discarded.  This  fact — for  it  is  a  fact  of 
life — can  not  be  too  strongly  emphasized,  and  the 
responsibility  of  the  university  is,  in  this  particular, 
all  the  more  grave,  because  the  home  is  far  away; 
while  the  church  no  longer  exerts  its  influence  as 
before. 

The  .university  in  its  laboratory  of  practical 
religion  should  encourage  the  development  of  the 
altruistic  spirit,  for  this  is  an  essential  part  of  the 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  75 

reKgious  spirit.  The  life  of  the  student,  as  also  of 
the  instructor,  is  confessedly  a  selfish  life.  He  is  all 
the  while  laboring  to  acquire,  to  make  himself  strong. 
This  is  right,  if  the  correct  motive  underlie  it  all. 
But  there  the  possibiHty  exists  that  the  wrong  motive 
will  control.  To  be  doing  something  for  others  is 
the  best  corrective.  In  settlement  work  and  in  a 
thousand  other  ways,  opportunity  is  open.  This  is 
a  real  part  of  the  reKgious  life  which  may  not  be 
neglected,  and  for  which  the  university  should  make 
ample  provision. 

The  university  naturally  should  take  definite  steps 
to  protect  its  constituency  against  those  common 
forms  of  vice  and  demoralization  which  prevail. 
The  dangers  and  temptations  of  Hfe  in  the  large 
institution  and  in  the  city  are,  upon  the  whole,  no 
greater  than  in  the  s^fialler  institutions  and  in  the 
country.  They  are  more  numerous,  perhaps,  and 
more  evident;  but  this  very  openness  takes  away  a 
large  part  of  therr  attractiveness;  and  then  the  coun- 
teracting influences  are  stronger,  and  likewise  more 
numerous.  Still,  as  we  all  know,  they  are  many 
and  deadly.  What  can  the  university  do  to  destroy 
their  influence  and  their  attractiveness?  It  can 
hold  up  true  ideals  of  hfe;  it  can  point  out  the 
terrible  consequences  of  the  violation  of  nature's 
laws;  it  can  pro\dde  proper  forms  of  recreation,  and 
a  proper  atmosphere  for  recreation.  It  can  through 
its  staff  of  officers  exercise  a  strong  personal  influence 
on  those  who  have  intrusted  themselves  to  its  care; 


76        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

it  can  purge  its  membership,  whether  in  the  case  of 
students  or  officers,  of  that  element  which  by  ex- 
ample or  direct  influence  is  deteriorating  and  inferior; 
it  can  place  itself  uncompromisingly  on  the  side  of 
all  that  is  good  and  elevating,  and  just  as  uncom- 
promisingly against  all  that  is  bad  and  debasing. 
All  this  it  can  do,  and  more.  All  this  it  must  do, 
and  more,  if  it  is  to  serve  conscientiously  the  interests 
of  those  who  are  within  its  walls. 

Has  the  statement  failed  to  distinguish  between 
the  religious  Uf  e  and  reHgious  education  ?  Perhaps  so ; 
for  it  is  not  always  possible  to  make  a  clear  distinction. 
Religious  education  or  training  is  not  the  study  of 
literature  or  of  archaeology  or  of  textual  criticism, 
as  some  of  our  modem  bibhcal  professors  would 
have  us  believe;  nor  is  it  the  study  of  history,  or  of 
the  laws  of  the  mind,  or  of  the  laws  of  the  universe ; 
all  such  study,  and  indeed  all  study  and  honest 
thought,  will  contribute  toward  a  rehgious  education. 
But  reUgious  education  itself  is  the  recognition  and 
the  development  of  that  within  us  which  is  more  than 
the  body  and  more  than  the  mind.  It  is  itself  a 
part  of  that  which  makes  up  Hfe.  It  is  something 
which  begins  with  life  itself  on  the  mother's  bosom; 
something  which  includes  all  that  is  holy  and  sacred 
in  life,  as  the  years  pass  by,  whether  in  relation  to 
home,  or  country,  or  church.  It  is  something  which 
those  who  share  the  university  Hfe  may  not  treat 
with  a  lack  of  respect,  or  even  with  indifference, 
unless  they  stand  ready,  sooner  or  later,  to  pay  the 


UNIVERSITY  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  77 

cost.  It  is  something  toward  which  the  university 
can  render  a  fundamental  service  by  encouraging 
for  it  a  proper  and  intelHgent  esteem.  It  is  a  part  of 
the  whole  education  of  a  man,  lacking  which  the 
man  lacks  completeness,  and  unity,  and,  conse- 
quently, strength. 


IV 

WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION' 

I  TAKE  the  liberty  of  inserting  the  word  "higher," 
and  thereby  of  Hmiting  somewhat  the  scope  of  the 
subject  assigned  me  for  discussion.  Even  with 
this|Umitation,  however,  I  have  found  the  topic  too 
large  and  too  important  to  receive  a  satisfactory 
treatment  within  the  time  at  my  disposal  this  evening. 
\/  There  is  ^(?we  waste  in.  every  effort  put  forth. 

The  character  of  this  waste  and  its  amountjn  any 
given  case  determine  the  success  or  failure  of  the 
effort.  This  holds  good  in  the  world  of  nature, 
and  it  is  equally  true  in  those  realms  of  mind  and 
action  in  which  man  is  supreme. 

To  discover  this  waste  and  to  point  it  out  in  any 
department  of  effort  is,  on  the  one  hand,  to  criticise 
and  condemn  much  that  is  acceptable  to  others. 
It  means  to  stand  in.  opposition  to  what  is  actually 
being  done  as  well  as  to  what  has,  under  similar 
circumstances,  been  done  in  the  past;  to  oppose 
usage  and  tradition;  to  lay  undue  emphasis  upon 
the  evils  of  system;  to  make  prominent  the  darker 
side;  in  short,  it  means  to  appear  to  be  pessimistic. 
\J  To  discover  this  waste  and  to  point  it  out  is,  on  the 
other  hand,  however,  merely  to  discriminate  between 

^  Read  before  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  New  York, 
June  27,  1899. 

78 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  79 

that  which  is  good  and  that  which  is  not  so  good, 
and  to  call  attention  to  the  latter  for  the  sake  of 
separating  it  from  the  former;  it  is  merely  to  cut  off 
that  which  hinders  and  obstructs,  in  order  that 
what  remains  may  be  relieved  of  what  might  other- 
wise injure  it.  It  means  merely  taking  the  steps 
which  will  make  the  greatest  success  possible, 
whatever  may  be  the  character  of  the  undertaking. 
And  so  to  make  an  estimate  of  waste  is  a  prudent 
thing  to  do;  it  is  the  method  of  a  business  man. 
To  fail  to  make  such  estimate — indeed,  to  fail  in  any 
respect  to  make  account  of  the  waste — is,  therefore, 
to  incur  the  charge  of  imprudence  and  indifference. 
And  that  the  work  of  higher  education  presents  a 
field  for  such  inquiry,  cannot  be  questioned.  It  is  a 
work  in  which  thousands  of  institutions  are  engaged ; 
in  which  tens  of  thousands  of  instructors  are  em- 
ployed ;  in  which  hundreds  of  thousands  of  students 
are  given  instruction;  in  which  millions  of  dollars  of 
money  are  expended.  In  the  relation  of  preparatory 
training  to  college  and  university  work;  in  the 
adjustment  of  the  college  machinery;  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  work  to  meet  the  demands  of  so  many 
different  minds;  in  its  organization  to  make  provision 
for  work  in  so  many  widely  separated  subjects;  in 
the  treatment  of  the  individual  student;  in  the 
relations  which  govern  the  work  of  instructors; 
in  the  inter-relationship  of  different  institutions — in 
each  and  all  of  these  particulars  the  probability  of 
great  waste  is  certain.     It  is,  of  course,  understood 


8o        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

that  the  same  kind  of  waste  may  occur  in  less  degree 
in  one  institution,  or  in  one  class  of  institutions,  or 
in  one  section  of  the  country,  than  in  others.  What 
might  seem  to  be  waste  under  one  set  of  circum- 
stances would  not  prove  upon  investigation  to  be 
such  under  another.  Any  statements,  therefore, 
which  may  be  made  within  the  scope  of  this  paper 
are  of  necessity  general  rather  than  particular.  To 
treat  the  subject  with  any  adequacy  would  require 
,a  volume  rather  than  a  sixty-minute  address. 
^  It  must,  too,  be  clearly  recognized  in  the  beginning 
that  to  point  out  the  various  ways  in  which  waste 
is  going  on  is  one  thing,  and  that  it  is  quite  a  differ- 
ent thing  to  indicate  the  remedy  for  the  evils  of  our 
present  system  or  lack  of  system.  One  may,  indeed, 
point  out  the  waste  and  yet  be  entirely  unable  to  sug- 
gest remedies.  It  must,  however,  be  said,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  one  cannot  point  out  or  suggest  remedies 
until  a  fair  accounting  of  the  waste  has  been  made. 
It  will  therefore  be  seen  that  in  this  paper  I  am,  in 
the  nature  of  the  case,  compelled  to  lay  greater 
emphasis  upon  the  waste  than  upon  any  suggestions 
as  to  remedies.  I  shall  therefore  satisfy  myself  by 
appending  at  the  end  a  list  of  brief  suggestions 
intended  in  some  measure  to  meet  the  difficulties  indi- 
\^  ,  cated.  First,  then,  I  shall  consider  waste  connected 
with  the  work  of  preparation  for  higher  education. 

The  problems  of  secondary  education  are  more 
numerous  today  than  those  of  any  other  single 
division    of    educational    work.    We,  tonight,   are 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

concerned  only  with  those  problems  which  are  in- 
volved in  the  direct  preparation  of  the  student  for 
college  and  university.  The  present  usage  is  gen- 
erally conceded  to  be  defective  in  many  important 
particulars;  but  here  again  we  are  concerned  only 
with  those  which  involve  actual  waste.  I  shall 
restrict  myself  to  the  consideration  of  the  waste 
which  arises  from  (i)  a  grave  mistake  made  in  the 
character  of  much  of  the  preparation  furnished; 
(2)  an  unfortunate  division  of  the  work  of  prepa- 
ration; (3)  the  unnecessary  length  of  time  at  present 
required  for  preparation;  and  (4)  the  inexcusable 
confusion  which  arises  from  the  multiformity  of 
requirements  for  entrance  and  of  methods  of  ad- 
mission. 1 

As  to  the  first  of  these,  a  grave  mistake  made  in 
the  character  of  much  of  the  preparation  furnished, 
I  must  say  at  once  that  satisfactory  results  can  be 
gained  in  college  and  university  only  when  proper 
habits  of  mind  have  been  formed  in  the  student  in  j  / 
his  preparatory  work.  The  one  habit  upon  which  ^.^ 
more  depends  than  upon  all  others  is  the  habit  of 
y  accuracy.  It  is,  of  course,  true  that  some  minds 
are  entirely  incapable  of  acquiring  this  habit.  It  is, 
nevertheless,  a  habit  which  may  be  gained  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  by  careful  cultivation;  and 
every  mental  effort,  according  to  its  character,  will 
lead  to  the  development  of  accurate  habits  of  thought, 
or  to  the  opposite.  The  boy  in  the  training  school 
is  compelled  to  learn  accuracy  or  inaccuracy.    The 


82        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Work  will  result  in  making  his  mental  habits  inaccu- 
]^ate,  unless  they  are  so  directed  as  to  cultivate  accu- 

y  racy.  Language  can  not  describe  the  incalculable 
/waste  involved  in  the  cost  to  society  in  the  case  of 
(every  individual  whose  training  fails  to  secure  for 
/him  this  accuracy.     The  whole  future  life  of  the 

/  man  is  involved. 

It  is  an  apparent  and  a  lamentable  fact  that  our 
preparatory  education  fails  in  this  particular.  In 
certain  respects  I  am  confident  that  we  excel  the 
Germans  in  the  preKminary  stages  of  educational 
work,  but  in  this  respect  we  fall  far  short,  not  only 
of  the  Germans,  but  of  the  Enghsh  and  the  French 
^  as  well.  It  is,  of  course,  difficult,  and  perhaps 
impossible,  to  make  a  satisfactory  comparison,  but, 
so  far  as  my  own  observations  go,  this  lack  of  accu- 
racy is  on  the  increase.  The  introduction  of  science 
studies  in  the  high  schools  and  academies  does  not 
seem  to  have  produced  any  serious  impression. 
The  fact,  however,  seems  to  be  that  the  advantage 
gained  from  the  prosecution  of  science  studies  has 
not  counteracted  the  disadvantage  which  follows 
from   undertaking   work   in  a  greater  number  of 

V   subjects,   jln   secondary   work,    dissipation   is   the 
forder  oT^he  day,  and  dissipation  is  only  another 

)j  term  for  waste.  The  effort  to  give  the  student  a 
little  knowledge  of  many  subjects  makes  accuracy 
impossible,  and  consequently  renders  inevitable  a 
great  waste,  and  a  kind  of  waste  in  the  future  efiforts 
of  the  pupil  which  he  will  never  fully  comprehend. 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  83 

Let  us  consider  now  the  second  topic,  an  unfor 
tunate  division  of  the  work  of  preparation.     In  the 
sharp  Hne  which  has  come  to  be  drawn  between  the 
work  of  the  eighth  grade  of  the  elementary  school 
and  the  first  year  of  the  high  school  or  academy  a 
great  waste  is  involved.     But  a  still  greater  waste  is 
involved  in  the  division  between  the  fourth  year  of 
the  high  school  or  academy  and  the  freshman  year 
of  college.     And  it  is  to  the  latter  that  I  refer.     The^ 
work  of  the  freshman  and  sophomore  years  in  the 
colleges  of  this  country — and  here  again  I  include  / 
the  institutions  properly  called  universities — is  but  a  / 
continuation  of  the  academy  or  high-school  work.  ( .     ^ 
It  is  a  continuation,  not  only  of  the  subject-matter '  ^ 
studied,  but  of  the  methods  employed.     It  is  not 
until  the  end  of  the  sophomore  year  that  university 
methods  of  instruction  may  be  employed  to  advan- 
tage.    It  is  not  until  the  end  of  the  sophomore  year 
that  the  average  student  has  reached  the  age  which 
enables  him  to  do  work  with  satisfaction  except  in 
accordance  with  academy  methods.     As  it  is  now 
arranged,  however,  this  consecutive  period  of  prep- 
aration, covering  five  or  six  years,  is  broken  into; 
and    what    follows?    The    student    finds    himself 
adrift.     He  has  not  reached  the  point  where  work 
in  any  of  his  preparatory  subjects  is  finished.     This 
work  is   continued   now   under   new   and   strange  /  ^ 
conditions,  with  new  and  strange  instructors.     Not 
infrequently    the    instructors    under    whom    he    is 
placed  in  the  freshman  year  at  college,  especially 


84        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

in  our  larger  institutions,  are  greatly  inferior  to 
those  with  whom  he  has  been  associated,  in  the 
academy,  and  in  many  cases  the  work  of  the  fresh- 

W^man  year  is  an  utter  waste.  It  is  here  that  the 
smaller  college  with  its  preparatory  department  has 
the  great  advantage  of  the  university,  which  scorns 
the  attachment  of  such  an  institution.  Everything 
may  be  said  in  favor  of  intermigration  in  the  case 
of  students  who  have  reached  an  age  of  maturity, 
and  are  prepared  for  university  work.  Nothing 
can  be  said  for  the  change  of  a  student  from  one 
institution  to  another,  or  from  one  group  of  instruc- 
tors to  another,  in  the  earlier  periods  of  his  prepara- 
tion.    And  yet  this  is  the  very  thing  which  happens 

.    in  the  case  of  almost  every  student  who  enters  college. 

<4  A  greater  waste  can  hardly  be  imagined — ^waste 
of  time,  waste  of  energy,  and,  worse  than  this,  waste 
of  interest.  Nature  has  marked  out  the  great 
divisions  of  educational  work,  and  the  laws  of 
nature  may  not  be  violated  without  entailing  great 

V   waste.     The  only  redeeming  element  in  the  situa- 

^^  '  tion  is  found  in  the  fact  that  by  the  present  methods 

of  preHminary  education  so  much  time  is  exhausted 

.,-^       that  many  of  the  students  who  enter  college  have 

/       reached  an  age  when  even  in  the  freshman  and 

I  sophomore  years  they  are  capable  of  doing  work  of  a 
higher  order.  But  this,  when  it  occurs,  is  at  the 
cost  of  professional  training,  in  later  years  of  Ufe 
or  at  the  cost  of  years  which  should  have  been  used 
in  a  different  way. 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  85 

The  third  point  at  which  there  is  waste  in  the 
work  of  preparation  is  the  unnecessary  length  bf 
time  at   present   required.     The    average    student 
should  be  ready  to  undertake  university  work — thal|t 
is,  study  in  Unes  elected  by  the  student  himself, 
and    undertaken    in    accordance    with    university 
rather  than  college  methods  of  instruction — at  the 
age  of  nineteen  or  twenty.     In  order  that  this  may  \ 
be  possible,  the  work  of  the  freshman  and  sophomore   \ 
years  should  be  done  at  the  age  of  seventeen  and    ! 
eighteen.     This  would  make  it  necessary  for  the 
four  years  of  academy  or  high-school  work  to  be    / 
undertaken  at  the  age  of  thirteen.     It  is  a  fact  that  ly 
in  many  of  our  academies  and  high  schools  the  age   i 
of  entrance  is  for  most  students  seventeen,  eighteen,    \ 
or  nineteen;  in  other  words,  the  student  is  three  or     \ 
four  years  behindhand.     If  now  the  student  were 
better  prepared  to  do  his  higher  work,  by  having 
delayed  his  entrance  to  the  academy  or  high  school 
until  this  age,  no  question  might  be  raised ;   but  the 
facts  do  not  show  this.     The  dissipation  of  energy 
andjheloss„of  accuracy.  in  the  introduction 

"of  so  many  subjects  into  the  curriculum  are  accom- 
"panied  by  a  loss  of  time  which  involves  consequences 
r^Hylerrible  in  their  nature.     This  waste  belongs,  /L^^ 
of  course,  in  part  to  the  period  of  the  elementary 
school.     The  sin  involved  in  this  waste  is,  however,  y 
due  in  part  to  the  methods  and  curriculum  of  the 
academy.     It  is  entirely  within  the  bounds  of  modera-  "^  "^ 
tion  to  say  that,  for  lack  of  better  correlation  of 


i 


86        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

work,  and  because  of  unnecessary  repetition  and 
duplication,  and  also  because  of  the  custom  of  holding 
students  in  classes  regardless,  in  large  measure,  of 
their  individual  capacities,  the  average  boy  who 
reaches  the  junior  year  in  college  has  wasted  at 
least  two  or  three  years  of  his  life. 

Under  proper  arrangements,  the  present  freshman 
would  be  a  junior.     He  is  old  enough;  the  only  difiS- 
culty  is  that  he  has  been  compelled  to  waste  these 
years  at  one  stage  or  another  of  his  preparatory 
/  work.     One  of  the  sad  consequences  of  the  present 
situation  is  the  fact  that  80  per  cent,  or  more  of  those 
who  enter  schools  of  law  or  medicine,  as  well  as  of 
I    engineering,  go  directly  from  the  high  school  to  the 
\  professional  school,  unable  to  spare  the  time  needed 
\  for  the  general  culture  of  college  work,  unable  even 
I  to  secure  the  final  stages  of  preparatory  education 
\  included  in  the  work  of  the  first  two  years  of  the 
college  course.     The  man  who  finishes  his  high- 
school  course  at  twenty-one  or  twenty-two,  or  even 
nineteen,  has  not  the  courage  to  undertake  four 
more  years  of  work  preliminary  to  that  of  his  profes- 
sion.    The  time  now  required  to  prepare  the  average 
boy  for  college  must  be  reduced  at  least  two  years, 
and  with  proper  arrangements  this  reduction  may 
be  secured. 

And,  finally,  in  the  work  of  preparation  there  is 
the  inexcusable  confusion  arising  from  the  multi- 
formity of  requirements  for  entrance  and  of  methods 
of  admission.     The  waste  involved  in  making  the 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  87 

step  from  secondary  work  to  that  of  college  work, 
both  for  the  student  and  for  the  college,  is  something 
which  has  recently  become  to  some  extent  appre- 
ciated. ;  College  and  university  education  in  the 
western  states  has  been  greatly  helped  by  the  sys- 
tem which  has  been  organized  between  the  state 
universities  and  the  high  schools  of  the  several  states; 
but  this  is  only  a  partial  remedy,  and  is  a  remedy 
only  for  a  particular  state  university,  and  for  those 
students  who  go  to  that  institution.  With  four  or 
five  hundred  colleges,  most  of  which  have  their  y\ 
individual  requirements  for  admission;  with  tens  of 
thousands  of  high  schools  and  academies,  most  of 
which  prepare  students  for  several  different  colleges, 
the  faculty  of  the  preparatory  school  and  the  student 
seeking  admission  have  difficulties  which  in  many 
cases  are  insurmountable.  It  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand why  so  great  an  impediment  should  be  placed  V 
in  the  way  of  those  desiring  a  higher  education; 
why  they  should  be  so  greatly  discouraged  in  their 
efforts  to  obtain  a  higher  education;  and  this,  espe- 
cially, not  at  the  end  of  a  distinct  period  of  training, 
but  in  the  very  middle  of  such  a  period.  The  actual 
time  spent  by  the  faculties  of  colleges  and  training 
schools,  the  actual  cost  of  worry  and  anxiety  to 
students  and  officers  of  instruction,  involves  a  tre- 
mendous waste  for  which  there  is  no  excuse ;  a  waste 
due  to  the  fact  of  the  utter  lack  of  system  in  the 
educational  work  of  our  country;  a  waste  due  to 
the  injurious  independence  of  our  separate  institu-  \l 


88        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

tions — ^an  independence  which  partakes  largely  of 
selfishness,  and  which,  indeed,  at  best  is  a  mistaken 
selfishness ;  a  waste  which  deterred  many  from  doing 
what  otherwise  it  might  have  been  possible  for 
them  to  do;  a  waste  which  has  involved  the  expendi- 
ture of  money  greatly  needed  by  the  institution  in 
other  directions.  In  these  four  ways  there  is  a 
waste  of  effort  which  in  each  case  could  be  greatly 
reduced,  if  those  who  suffer  it  were  to  co-operate 
intelligently. 
J  We  have  considered  briefly  four  points  of  wast- 

age in  the  work  of  preparation ;  let  us  now  study  the 
possibilities  of  waste  in  connection  with  what  might 
be  called  the  external  machinery  of  higher  education. 
This  machinery  is  sometimes  mistaken  for  edu- 
cation itself.  Consider,  for  example,  the  veneration 
and  inviolabiHty  which  attach  to  the  traditional  four 
years  of  college  life.  If  a  man  should  take  the 
course  in  three,  it  would  be  said  that  he  had  hurried ; 
if  he  should  spend  five,  it  would  mean,  of  course, 
that  he  had  not  been  diHgent.  A  college  course,  to 
be  such,  must  be  four  years,  no  more,  no  less;  and, 
indeed,  if  once  the  four  years  are  spent,  it  matters 
little  what  has  been  accompHshed.  Have  we  ever 
considered  the  waste  which  the  worship  of  this 
fetish  costs?  In  every  hundred  avejage  men  or 
women  there  are  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  who 
can  do  all  that  is*  expected  of  them  in  three  or  three 
and  one-half  years;  there  is  about  the  same  number 
who  require  five  years  to  do  the  same  work  with  any 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  89 

sort  of  satisfaction.  It  is  simply  absurd  to  measure  ''^^ 
the  work  of  men  by  a  measure  of  time;  to  hold  back 
one-fourth,  when  they  might  be  doing  work  which 
would  be  of  greater  advantage;  to  compel  another 
fourth  to  do  their  work  shabbily.  Here  is  a  double 
waste,  for  which  there  is  no  corresponding  gain. 
The  beginnings  of  the  breaking  down  of  this  archaic 
system  are  seen  on  every  hand.  It  is  doomed,  but 
it  dies  hard;  and  meanwhile  the  waste  continues. 

Closely  associated  with  this  evil  of  the  four- 
year  fetish  is  the  division  of  the  college  year  into 
two  periods:  nine  months  for  work,  and  three 
for  vacation.  The  waste  here  is  very  great,  and 
shows  itself  in  many  obvious  ways.  The  student  is 
compelled  to  do  his  college  work  in  certain  months 
of  the  year,  although  these  may  not  be  either  the  H, 
most  advantageous  or  the  most  convenient  for  him. 
In  these  days  when  so  many  men  must  earn  their 
way  through  college  the  possibihty  of  securing  work 
forms  an  important  factor.  Again,  the  student  is 
compelled  to  do  work  during  the  whole  of  the  nine 
months,  or  lose  an  entire  year.  For  reasons  of 
health,  or  for  other  reasons,  it  may  be  greatly  to 
his  advantage  to  do  work  during  six  months  of  the 
year.  But  such  an  arrangement  is  impossible 
without  the  waste  of  a  year.  And,  worst  of  all,  he 
is  compelled  to  give  up  his  work  during  three 
months.  Whatever  his  age  or  circumstances,  he 
must  turn  aside  from  his  college  work  during  one- 
fourth  of  the  year.    If  he  is  an  earnest  student,  he 


90        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

may,  to  be  sure,  find  profitable  employment  during 
three  months  in  reading  or  in  some  dilettante  work; 
but  if  he  is  a  scientific  man,  the  laboratory  is  closed 
upon  him;  and  in  many  cases  even  the  library  refuses 
him  admission.  Then  there  is  that  large  class  of 
persons  who  could  and  would  do  college  work 
during  their  vacation  period.  These  are  denied 
the  opportunity. 

During  these  months  of  vacation  a  large  portion 
of  the  student  body  finds  itself  without  guidance  of 
any  kind,  and,  the  time  being  comparatively  so 
short,  without  a  fixed  purpose.  The  time  is  largely^ 
thrown  away;  but,  more  than  this,  the  time  fre- 
quently is  spent~in  a  way  tblhjure  habits  already 
formed.  DemoraUzation  follows,  and  it  is  a  very 
common  experience  to  discover  that  a  month  or 
two  months  in  the  autumn  pass  before  the.  student 
has  resumed  the  habits  of  work  put  aside  during 
the  summer.  And  meanwhile  the  college  and„unt._ 
versity  property^  fncluding  libraries  and  laboratories 
— a  property  aggregating  hundreds  of  millions  of 
dollars — lies  idle,  rendering  no  service  of  any  kind, 
during  one-fourth  of  the  time.  This  is  surely  a 
stupendous  waste. 

It  is  probable  that  the  time  of  the  summer  vaca- 
tion is  largely  wasted  by  from  60  to  70  per  cent,  of 
the  teachers  in  our  colleges  and  universities.  It 
cannot  be  maintained  that  the  work  of  the  average 
college  instructor  is  more  arduous  than  that  of  the 
ordinary  physician,   lawyer,  or  minister.     Men  in 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  91 

these  professions  do  not  take  fourteen  or  fifteen 
weeks  of  rest;  they  are  satisfied  in  most  cases  with 
four  weeks.  The  work  of  the  college  officer  does 
not  impose  upon  him  the  heavy  strain  which  falls 
upon  men  in  the  many  lines  of  business  activity. 
They  are  fortunate  when  they  are  able  to  secure 
two  or  three  weeks  of  rest.  The  fact  is  the  long 
summer  vacation  is  in  the  case  of  teachers  intended, 
not  for  rest,  but  for  work,  and  yet  it  may  fairly  be 
said  that  the  percentage  I  have  named  utterly  waste 
it,  so  far  as  any  tangible  results  are  concerned. 
Shall  the  instructor,  then,  be  required  to  teach 
throughout  the  year?  By  no  means;  but  let  every 
teacher  feel  that  he  is  guilty  of  wasting  valuable 
time,  and  still  more  valuable  opportunity,  if  during 
every  such  period  he  does  not  make  a  substantial 
advance  in  connection  with  his  work — an  advance 
marked  by  definite  steps  of  progress;  for  otherwise  ^ 
this  is  one  of  the  greatest  sources  of  waste  in  the 
entire  field  of  higher  education. 

A  third  source  of  waste  in  the  educational  ma- 
chinery of  colleges  and  universities  lies  in  the  dis- 
sipation and  distraction  made  possible,  and  indeed 
rendered  inevitable,  by  the  lack  of  care  shown  to 
secure  concentration  of  work  on  the  part  of  both 
student  and  instructor.  The  student  is  permitted, 
and  indeed  required,  to  distribute  his  energy  and 
time,  during  a  given  period,  over  five  or  six  or 
seven,  and  perhaps  even  a  greater  number,  of  dif- 
ferent subjects.     This  is   fatal  to  earnestness,   to 


92        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

thoroughness,  and,  in  a  word,  to  success  The 
waste  incurred  in  keeping  so  many  subjects  in  hand 
at  the  same  time  is  so  great  as  to  prove  almost 
ruinous.  The  greatest  advantage  of  the  old- 
fashioned  curriculum,  with  its  three  subjects,  was 
that  under  it  the  student  was  able  to  do  honest, 
serious  work,  and  to  keep  up  habits  of  accuracy 
and  thoroughness.  How  can  men  make  progress 
or  sustain  interest,  or  be  profited  by  attending  the 
one-  and  two-hour  courses  a  week,  which  now  oc- 
cupy so  large  a  place  in  college  curricula?  How 
can  a  man  with  seven  or  eight  subjects  find  op- 
portunity to  do  careful  and  scholarly  work  in  any 
one  of  them?  Hundreds  of  students,  on  the  point 
of  finishing  their  college  work,  have  expressed  -to 
me  their  utter  astonishment  that  a  pohcy  which 
forces  the  student  to  do  superficial  work  should 
be  continued  by  so  many  of  our  institutions;  for 
under  such  circumstances  study  becomes  a  mere  dis- 
sipation. No  student  can  profitably  conduct  more 
than  three  lines  of  study  at  the  same  time,  even  when 
these  lines  run  close  together.  It  is  not  unreason- 
able to  suppose  that  men  who  are  endeavoring  to 
carry  from  four  to  eight  different  studies  waste  half 
their  efforts. 

The  same  waste  is  incurred  when  by  the  regula- 
tions of  the  curriculum  the  instructor  is  required  to 
carry  more  than  two,  or  at  the  most  three,  courses 
during  a  particular  period,  even  within  the  Umits 
of  a  single  department.    It  is  sheer  waste,  so  far  as 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  93 

actual  and  final  results  go,  to  try  to  carry  several 
subjects;  and  especially  when  this  becomes  possible 
by  giving  only  one  or  two  hours  of  instruction  a 
week  in  each  subject.  In  no  profession  does  a 
man  have  greater  command  of  his  time  than  in  that 
of  the  college  instructor.  In  no  profession  does  the 
true  man  find  greater  opportunity  for  the  improve- 
ment of  time;  in  no  profession  does  the  faithless 
man  find  greater  opportunity  for  the  waste  of  time. 
Some  waste  it  consciously;  many  more  unconsciously. 
The  waste  is  so  great  as  sometimes  to  bring  sad 
reproach  upon  the  profession;  and  in  most  cases  it 
may  be  traced  to  the  dissipation  which  inevitably 
follows  the  scattering  of  effort. 

We  have  seen  how  waste  occurs  in  the  prepara- 
tion for  higher  education,  and  in  the  machinery  of 
the  higher  education;  now  we  must  direct. our  atten- 
tion to  the  opportunities  for  waste  in  "the  internal 
adjustment  of  the  students'  work.  We  shall  con- 
sider three  special  sources  of  such  waste:  failure  to 
recognize  and  to  apply  the  principle  of  individualism ; 
the  use  of  ill- adapted  methods  in  dealing  with  col- 
lege students;  and  the  lack  of  proper  and  effective 
correlation  in  the  different  subjects  offered  for  study. 

J^nstitutions  of  higher  learning  are  accustomed 
to  accord  a  common  treatment  to  all  the  students 
within  their  walls.  I  mean  by  this  that  students 
are  treated  as  members  of  a  group  or  company,  not 
as  individuals.  No  matter  how  different  their 
temperaments,    how   varied    their   tastes,    or   how 


94        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

peculiar  their  physical  condition,  they  are  treated 
in  mass.  The  class  idea  is  the  supreme  one;  the 
individual  is  lost  sight  of.  If  we  could  imagine  a 
physician  treating  any  fifty  or  one  hundred  cases 
which  came  to  him  at  one  time,  in  the  same  way, 
we  would  have  an  analogy  for  the  treatment  now 
accorded  the  classes  of  fifty  or  more  students  who 
enter  college  at  the  same  time.  The  truth  is  that 
the  physical  constitutions  of  fifty  patients  cannot 
possibly  differ  one  from  the  other  more  decidedly 
than  the  mental  constitutions  of  the  same  number, 
and  to  prescribe  the  same  intellectual  work  for  a 
class  of  fifty  or  more,  without  even  a  consideration 
of  their  mental  constitution,  is  as  absurd  as  to  pre- 
scribe the  same  food  for  fifty  or  more  patients  in  a 
hospital.  There  should  be  a  diagnosis  of  each  stu- 
dent, in  ofd5rfO"discover  his  capacities,  his  tastes, 
his    tendencies,  his   weaknesses,  and    his    defects; 

and   upon   the    basis    of    sudi    a diagnosis    his 

course  of  study  should  be  arranged.  Every  detail 
should  be  adjusted  to  his  individual  necessities. 
Every  student  should  be  treated  as  if  he  were  the 
only  student  in  the  institution;  as  if  the  institution 
had  been  created  to  meet  his  case.  The  cost  of 
such  a  policy,  it  may  be  suggested,  would  be  very 
great.  True,  but  the  waste  avoided  would  more 
than  counterbalance  the  cost. 

At  all  events,  what  every  institution  should  do 
is  to  provide  from  the  very  beginning  of  its  curricu- 
lum for  all  the  great  groups  of  study  which  are  likely 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  95 

to  be  demanded.  The  majority  of  colleges  make 
no  adequate  provision  for  those  whose  tastes  lie  in 
the  direction  of  science.  Some  of  the  largest  insti- 
tutions have  only  the  old-fashioned  arts  group 
(including  Greek)  and  the  science  group.  These 
two  are  not  sufficient;  the  number  may  be,  and 
should  be,  increased,  for  at  least  five  or  six  such 
groups  are  demanded.  Harvard  has  probably  gone 
too  far  in  this  matter  of  election;  but  this  was  only 
the  natural  reaction  from  the  older  narrow  policy, 
and  if  the  group  system  had  been  in  vogue,  the  ex- 
treme elective  system  would  not  have  come  into 
existence.  Under  the  old  system  this  waste  is  the 
greatest  argument  that  can  be  urged  against  the 
small  colleges;  and  in  most  of  them  this  waste  still 
goes  on. 

To  the  point  where  this  waste  bears  directly  upon 
the  student,  reference  has  already  been  made.  It 
is  the  requiring  in  the  same  period  of  time  from  all 
the  students  of  a  group  the  same  amount  of  work. 
The  evil  here  is  apparent.  Every  opportunity  should 
be  given  the  student  for  the  freest  play  of  individual 
choice.  And  by  so  doing  evils  for  which  no  remedy 
exists  may  often  be  avoided. 

A  prominent  president  of  a  university  in  the 
eastern  states  has  uttered  a  teaching  which  in  this 
day  and  generation  is  indeed  astonishing.  It  is  to 
this  effect:  The  purpose  of  the  university  in  its 
dealings  with  its  students  is  to  impose  upon  each  of 
them  a  like  impression ;  to  remove  the  individualities 


96        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  the  students,  and  to  send  them  out  as  if  all  had 
been  formed  in  a  given  mold.  We  cannot  possibly 
count  the  cost  of  the  waste  such  a  policy  would  oc- 
casion; and  yet  this  is  the  poUcy  of  a  large  majority 
of  our  institutions. 
y  The  second  point  of  wastage  in  the  internal 
adjustment  of  the  higher  education  to  the  student  is 
the  use  of  methods  not  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of 
students  who  are  of  different  stages  of  development, 
or  who  have  different  needs.  A  good  deal  of  high- 
school  work  is  being  done  in  the  junior  and  senior 
years  of  the  college  and  university.  These  lower 
methods  having  once  been  adopted  by  the  instruc- 
tor, at  a  time  when,  perhaps,  he  was  engaged  as  a 
high-school  teacher,  they  are  still  employed  to  the 
great  injury  of  the  college  man,  who  ought  to  have 
risen  far  above  them.  The  departments  in  which  this 
waste  is  most  common  are  the  departments  of  Htera- 
ture  and  history,  as  well  as  those  deahng  with  lan- 
guage. The  waste  is  probably  greatest  in  the  teaching 
of  the  classics;  and  here  it  has  become  so  conspicu- 
ous as  to  bring  reproach  upon  this  department.  The 
teachers  of  the  classics  are  themselves  in  large  meas- 
ure to  blame  for  any  reaction  which  may  have  set 
in  against  this  subject. 

In  many  instances  the  use  made  of  the  laborator)' 
method  involves  great  waste.  It  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  every  college  student  should  have  a  severe 
and  rigorous  laboratory  training  in  one  or  more 
subjects  of  science;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  he 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  97 

must  learn  the  laboratory  technique  of  every  subject 
of  which  he  may  desire  some  knowledge.  If  he  is 
to  do  his  Hfe-work  in  some  field  of  science,  this  may 
be  expected ;  but  if  not,  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  require 
him  to  perfect  himself  in  all  the  detail  of  the  labora- 
tory, in  every  subject  which  he  may  wish  to  study. 
The  opportunity  must  be  given  the  general  student 
to  become. informed  upon  the  princijxles,  and  more 
important  facts  of  some  subjects,  without  spending 
all  of  the  time  at  his  disposal  upon  the  merel^MmLe- 
chanical  side. 

Teachers  of  science  are,  sad  to  say,  now  doing 
just  what  teachers  of  the  classics  have  been  doing 
for  many  years,  and  just  what  has  made  the  study 
of  the  classics  so  distasteful  to  many  students;  that 
is,  they  are  dealing  with  the  student  in  each  depart- 
ment as  if  he  were  going  to  make  a  specialty  of  that 
department;  in  other  words,  they  are  doing  their 
work  as  if  with  a  professional  student.  This  is 
distinctly  injurious,  not  only  to  many  students,  but 
as  well  to  the  departments  concerned. 

Another  source  of  waste  closely  related  to  the 
kind  just  spoken  of  is  found  in  the  work  of  many 
of  our  doctors  of  philosophy,  especially  those  who 
have  spent  two  or  three  years  in  the  universities  of 
Europe.  These  men  and  women,  many  of  them 
comparatively  young,  and  many  of  them  without 
experience  as  teachers,  are  given  teaching  in  the 
lower  college  classes.  After  three  or  four  years 
spent  in  the  work  of  research,  they  seem  to  ignore 


98        THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

the  fact  that  there  is  any  other  kind  of  work,  or  that 
there  is  any  other  method  of  work  than  that  employed 
by  the  most  advanced  students.  They  therefore 
employ  university  methods  with  freshmen  and  sopho- 
mores, and  the  result  is  an  utter  waste  of  energy  and 
time,  both  for  the  student  and  his  instructor.  When, 
now,  we  add  to  this  the  insane  purpose  manifested 
by  some  of  them  (especially  those  who  have  been  in 
Germany)  to  Germanize  everything  with  which  they 
come  into  relation — a  purpose  that  has  grown  out 
of  the  novelty  of  their  German  experience,  and  the 
youthful  desire  to  advocate  something  not  exclu- 
sively American — we  have  a  combination  of  evils  to 
which  may  be  traced  a  very  considerable  amount  of 
waste.  So  common  has  this  evil  become  that  in 
some  of  the  larger  institutions  a  man  who  has  taken 
his  degree  in  a  foreign  university  is  not  even  consid- 
ered as  a  candidate  for  appointment  until  he  has 
had  opportunity  to  get  a  new  perspective  by  having 
had  three  or  four  years  of  work  at  home  again.  We 
are  sometimes  told  that  the  college  life  spoils  many 
men  who  otherwise  would  have  been  useful.  This 
is  true.  It  is  also  true  that  many  a  good  man  and 
woman  have  received  great  injury  from  their  Ger- 
man experience.  After  a  while,  in  most  cases,  the 
injurious  influence  disappears,  and  then  the  real  and 
great  value  of  the  experience  is  seen;  but  in  the 
meanwhile  the  work  of  such  men  and  women,  unless 
closely  observed  and  directed,  will  mean  loss  for 
those  with  whom  it  is  done  in  the  lower  classes. 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  99 

The  third  source  of  waste  in  the  adjustment  of  jhe 
highere^cation  to  the  student  is  the  lack  of  proper" 
and  effective  correlation  in  the  different  subjectsoT 


the  college  curriculum.  If  a  student  does  work  m  a 
particular  subject  or  department,  without  knowing 
the  various  connections  of  that  subject  or  depart- 
ment, its  relationship  to  other  subjects  or  depart- 
ments, he  loses  at  least  one-half  the  profits  of  the 
course.  If  a  student  does  work  in  one  subject  after 
another  and  in  one  department  after  another,  with- 
out discovering  the  interrelationship  of  the  other 
subjects  or  departments,  and  all  the  while  conceives 
these  subjects  and  departments  as  distinct  entities 
without  relationship,  he  loses  far  more  than  one-half 
the  value  of  his  work. 

I  am  incHned  to  think  that  more  than  half  of  the 
students  who  leave  college  are  as  ignorant  as  babes 
of  the  organic  and  logical  relation  which  exists 
between  the  various  courses  in  the  ordinary  curricu- 
lum. The  division  of  the  work  into  technical 
departments  is  an  artificial  and  misleading  one, 
but  it  is  so  fixed  that,  like  the  letter  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  it  is  by  many  supposed  to  be  a  part  of  the 
original  creation  itself.  This  vitiates  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree  the  value  of  the  entire  college  disci- 
pline, for  it  is  the  relationships  of  thought,  and  of 
life  that  a  man  ought  to  know,  if  he  is  to  know  any- 
thing. Not  to  know  something  of  this  is  to  be  in 
possession  only  of  scattered  and  impractical  pieces 
of  information;  to  have  no  basis  or  foundation  on 


loo      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

which  to  build  one's  own  system  of  thought  and 
thinking;  to  have  the  various  parts  of  a  machine 
without  the  abiUty  to  put  them  together.  The  fact 
that  the  parts  cost  much  more  than  would  be  asked 
for  the  entire  machine  put  together,  but  that  until 
they  are  put  together  they  are  of  no  use,  is  what 
makes  the  waste. 

We  hayelalready  considered  waste  in  the  prepa- 
ration for  the  higher  educatibri,  waste  mTEe  machin- 
ery of  it,  and  waste  in  the  adjustment  of  it  to  the 
student  in  general.  We  must  now  consider  waste 
in  the.  adjustment  of  it  to  the  student  in  particular. 
Under  this  head  the  three  points  which  seem  to  me 
to  suggest  important  problems,  each  of  which  stands 
related  to  this  question  of  waste,  are:  the  presence 
in  the  college  of  men  who  are  not  helped  toward  hfe 
by  the  college  work;  the  results  of  the  free  elective 
system,  with  lack  of  careful  supervision;  the  inter- 
migration  of  students  from  necessity  and  from 
desire. 

As  to  the  first  point,  I  take  it  for  granted  that 
scholarship  is  not  the  only  factor  which  enters  into 
a  successful  college  hfe.  There  is  much  else  for 
which  one  should  strive,  and  much  else  the  posses- 
sion of  which,  even  without  scholarship,  is  a  suffi- 
cient gain  for  the  expenditure  of  time  and  money 
involved  in  a  college  course.  But  even  with  this 
broad  interpretation,  the  college  course  is  one  from 
which  many  who  enter  upon  it  receive  injury,  rather 
than  benefit.    As  to  how  many  actually  are  thus 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION-  loi ; 

injured  a  definite  answer  cannot,/ o?  cpjur^e.  beii ',  >  •, 
given,  though  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  proportion 
is  much  larger  than  supposed.  In  every  such  case 
there  is  distinct  waste,  on  the  part  both  of  the  man 
and  of  the  institution.  The  number  of  those  who 
drop  out,  in  spite  of  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to 
retain  them,  is,  in  part,  evidence  of  this  statement; 
for  in  these  days  no  strong  and  worthy  man  is  com- 
pelled to  give  up  college  training  for  lack  of  means.  ■' 
Many  men  pull  through  the  college  course  by  the 
hardest  kind  of  work,  because  of  the  pressure  of 
friends  who  themselves  feel,  and  who  succeed  in 
making  the  student  feel,  that  he  will  disgrace  thein^ 
and  himselljf  he  does. not  finish  the  traditional  and 
•^erieotyped  four-year  course.  Many  institutions  re- 
tain on  theiFTSlTs'lliLldentS'^who  by  no  means  fulfil 
their  requirements;  and  at  last  graduate  them  with 
the  degree,  although  it  is  known  that  in  so  doing 
the  institution  is  stultifying  itself,  and  inflicting  a 
grave  injury  on  those  who  have  earned  the  right  to 
receive  the  degree.  What  is  the  proportion?  I 
should  not  be  surprised  if,  when  all  the  facts  are  col- 
lected, it  should  prove  true  that  lo  or  20  per  cent,  of 
those  who  go  out  from  colleges  had  better  never  have 
been  entered;  better,  I  mean,  for  the  men's  own  sake 
as  well  as  for  that  of  the  institution.  It  would  be 
impossible,  however,  to  gather  the  data  on  which  to 
base  an  accurate  statement.  This  is  a  serious  waste, 
and  yet  one  which  might  in  large  measure  be  avoided. 
Ifoniy  it  were  possible  to  leave  the  college  honorably^—* 


iq2      THJ!  TR^l^D  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

a§:ex,  saj^;JvijQ_j.earsi,  i. -e.,  at  the  end  of  thrsopho- 

inore'year,  many  men  would  go  out  to  take  up  life's 

work  in   some   department   in   which   they   would 

achieve  success,  rather  than  linger  along  in  jcoUege 

"  without  profit,  and  with  distinct  injury,  until  it  is  too 

4ate  to  take  up  serious  work  in  another  line.     If  the 

colleges  would  do  their  full  duty  and  drop  from  their 

number  those  wHo  had  no  business  to  be  retained, 

"good  would  be  done  these  men  and  waste  would  be 

avoided. 

My  second  point  here  is  that  the  results  of  an 
elective  system  which  has  not  been  carefully  super- 
vised show  that  such  a  system  is  another  cause  of 
waste.  I  suppose  that  even  the  most  ardent  advo- 
cates of  electives  will  grant  that,  Hke  all  systems,  it 
should  be  carefully  guarded  and  directed  if  it  is  to 
give  the  best  results.  Thus  in  the  smaller  colleges 
there  is  waste-  because  the  system  is  not  sufficiently 
developed;  in  the  larger  institutions  the  waste  occurs 
because  the  student  does  not  receive  sufficient  as- 
sistance in  making  out  his  schedule  of  study.  But 
with  the  time  at  my  disposal  I  may  not  enlarge  upon 
this  point  but  must  pass  to  the  third  subject — the 
intermigration  of  students  from  necessity  and  desire. 
It  frequently  happens  that  a  student  is  compelled 
to  leave  one  college  and  go  to  another.  This  change 
is  made  necessary  in  many  instances  by  the  removal 
of  parents,  by  the  exigencies  of  climate,  and  by  vari- 
ous other  circumstances.  In  other  cases,^  however, 
a  student  desires  to  make  such  a  change,   even 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  103 

though  it  be  not  absolutely  necessary.  This  desire 
usually  grows  out  of  the  feehng  that  a  change  would 
in  itself  be  beneficial,  or  that  in  a  different  environ- 
ment something  helpful  might  be  secured.  This 
tendency  to  intermigrate  is  especially  noticeable 
among  graduate  students;  and  in  their  case  it  is 
more  easily  accompHshed. 

In  favor  of  such  intermigration  in  the  earlier  years 
of  college  hfe  nothing  can  be  said.     The  change  from 
the  high  school  or  preparatory  school  to  the  freshman 
class  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  a  case  of  intermigration, 
and  one  which  often  is  injurious  to  the  student. 
The  change  should  come  at  the  end  of  the  sophomore 
year.     But,  leaving  aside  the  first  two  years,  or  sup- 
posing that  the  first  years  have  been  spent  in  an 
institution  near  one's  home  and  in  close  touch  with 
a  preparatory  institution,  it  is  a  question  of  vital 
importance  whether  for  one  of  the  later  years,  at 
least,   a  change  from    one    institution  to   another 
would  not  prove  highly  beneficial.     I  can  readily 
imagine  the  objections  which  could  be  urged,  but, 
in  spite  of  these,  I  would  ask  whether,  considering 
everything,   a  student  would  not  be  broader  and 
stronger  if  he  divided  his  college  course  between  two  . ../. 
institutions  ?    This  transfer,  if  it  could  be  arranged    ? 
without  loss  of  actual  time,  would  make  it  possible  to   \ 
avoid  a  certain  stagnation  of  interest,  which  after  a 
year  or  two  comes  to  many  of  the  very  best  students.   ] 
In  any  case,  it  will  be  advantageous  for  a  student  to    | 
pursue  his  professional  or  graduate  studies  in  some 


104      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Other  than  the  institution  in  which  his  undergraduate 
work  was  done. 

It  would  be  worth  our  while  in  this  connection  to 
study  the  graduate  membership  of  some  of  our  lead- 
ing universities.  I  have  in  mind  one,  for  instance, 
in  which  two-thirds  of  all  the  graduate  students  are 
bachelors  of  the  institution  in  which  they  are  doing 
their  graduate  work.  This  is  wise  neither  for  the 
student  nor  for  the  university.  The  greatest  gain 
would  follow  the  policy  of  students'  moving  about, 
from  South  to  North,  from  East  to  West,  and  West 
to  East.  But  at  the  present  such  intermigration  is 
very  difficult  because  the  lack  of  understanding  and 
of  co-operation  between  institutions  discourages  it. 
The  failure  of  leading  universities  to  co-operate 
closely  with  each  other,  especially  in  New  England, 
has  been  the  occasion  of  loss  and  injury  to  the  cause 
of  higher  education,  which  it  is  impossible  to  com- 
pute; and  in  this  matter  of  intermigration,  a  foolish 
independence  and  selfishness  prevail,  that  seem 
wholly  unworthy  of  the  high  cause  in  which  uni- 
versities are  engaged. 

From  the  subject  of  waste  resulting  from  the 
adjustment  of  the  machinery  of  the  higher  education 
to  the  students  in  general  and  in  particular,  we  shall 
take  up  now  waste  as  it  is  related  to  the  work  of 
instructors.  What  the  instructor  does  is,  after  all, 
the  key  to  the  whole  situation  in  the  field  of  the 
higher  education,  and  much — one  is  tempted  to 
say  everything — depends  upon  his  work.     An  ob- 


WASTE  m  HIGHER  EDUCATION  105 

server,  even  if  he  be  not  a  close  observer,  will  find 
waste  going  on  in  the  administration  of  our  higher 
institutions,  which  may  be  charged  (i)  to  the  usage 
of  retaining  in  ofl&ce  men  and  women  who  are  incom- 
petent; (2)  to  the  policy  of  requiring  too  much  work 
in  the  classroom  of  instructors;  (3)  to  the  failure  to 
make  proper  financial  provision  for  the  support  of 
instructors. 

Of  the  many  sins  which  are,  or  are  supposed  to 
be,  chargeable  to  the  account  of  higher  institutions 
the  greatest,  and  the  most  grievous,  is  that  of  retain- 
ing men  and  women  in  ofiice  who  are  incompetent. 
Instances  of  this  occur  when  the  instructor  con- 
cerned, at  one  time  perhaps  entirely  successful,  has 
through  illness  or  old  age  reached  a  physical  condi- 
tion which  makes  it  impossible  to  render  the  service 
demanded.  Here  sentiment  comes  in,  and  the 
instructor  is  permitted  to  go  on  from  year  to  year,  to 
the  injury  of  those  who  are  compelled  to  sit  under  his 
instruction. 

In  other  cases  influence  of  one  kind  or  another 
retains  an  instructor  in  a  position  which  he  was 
never  fitted  to  fill.  In  still  other  cases  a  false 
delicacy,  a  feeling  of  consideration  for  the  interests 
of  the  instructor  which  entirely  disregards  the  inter- 
ests of  the  institution  and  of  the  student,  permits  the 
instructor  to  hold  his  position  long  after  his  incom- 
petency has  been  demonstrated. 

There  is  not  an  institution  of  any  rank  throughout 
the  country  in  which  the  sin  which  I  have  described 


io6      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

is  not  being  committed  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  all 
the  time.  In  some  cases  it  is  laxity  of  the  ofl&cials 
which  is  at  fault;  in  others  it  is  the  very  constitution 
of  the  institution  which  makes  such  sinning  un- 
avoidable. 

It  is  pitiable  to  hear  college  men  describe  the  con- 
ditions to  which  in  some  cases  they  were  subjected — 
conditions  the  real  injury  of  which  often  only  becomes 
apparent  when  in  later  Hfe  the  man  begins  to  reahze 
how  his  alma  mater  robbed  him  (robbing  would 
seem  to  be  the  most  appropriate  name  for  this  usage), 
the  saddest  element  in  the  situation  being  that  many 
students  do  not  at  the  time  appreciate  the  fact  that 
they  are  being  robbed.  This  waste  is  greater  by  far 
in  the  smaller  institutions  than  in  the  larger,  for  al- 
though in  the  latter  there  may  be  the  same  propor- 
tion of  incompetent  men,  the  larger  election  granted 
makes  it  possible  for  the  student  to  avoid  these  whose 
incompetency  has  become  especially  conspicuous. 
The  waste  here  is  something  which  is,  indeed,  ap- 
palling, and  it  is  a  waste  which  perhaps  is  on  the 
increase. 

Closely  associated  with  this  policy,  and  partly 
responsible  for  it,  is  another  which  is  almost  univer- 
sally practiced  in  our  higher  institutions — that  of 
requiring  from  instructors  too  large  an  amount  of 
classroom  work.  This  plan  is  adopted,  it  is  said, 
for  reasons  of  economy.  Experience  shows,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  a  most  expensive  policy,  if  all  the  facts 
are  considered. 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  107 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  an  instructor 
in  freshmen  and  sophomore  work  should  do  no  more 
than  ten  hours  a  week  of  classroom  work,  and  of 
instructors  doing  work  still  higher  only  five  or  six 
hours  should  be  required.  A  greater  waste  cannot 
be  conceived  than  that  of  confining  college  instruc- 
tors to  an  amount  of  routine  work  which  paralyzes 
every  effort  made  to  engage  in  independent  research 
and  investigation.  The  American  college  system 
has  actually  murdered  hundreds  of  men  who  while 
in  its  service  have  felt  that  something  more  must  be 
done  than  the  work  of  the  classroom,  and  who, 
because  of  this  feeling,  have  died  from  overwork. 
It  has  actually  destroyed  the  intellectual  growth  of 
thousands  of  strong  and  able  men,  who,  if  oppor- 
tunity had  been  offered,  might  have  done  for  America 
what  the  German  professor,  with  his  greater  oppor- 
tunities in  this  respect,  has  done  for  Germany.  The 
American  institution  of  higher  learning  cannot  take 
its  place  beside  that  of  other  lands  until  the  fact  of 
this  waste  is  recognized  and  something  is  done  to 
stop  its  continuance.  As  a  part  of  this  indictment, 
we  must  count  also  the  usage  still  practiced  in  many 
places  of  requiring  one  man  to  do  work  in  two  or 
more  departments,  which  are  not  always  closely 
associated.  This,  of  course,  means  death  to  every 
desire  or  effort  to  do  honest  or  successful  work. 

And  now,  in  close  connection  with  what  has  just 
been  said,  let  me  state  another  cause  of  waste;  viz., 
the  failure  on  the  part  of  our  higher  institutions  to 


io8      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

make  proper  financial  provision  for  the  support  of 
their  instructors.  To  remedy  this  condition  three 
things  must  be  done :  Larger  salaries  must  be  paid  to 
those  engaged  in  the  work,  in  order  that  there  may 
be  avoided  the  intellectual  waste  which  always  at- 
tends the  struggle  of  living  on  half  the  sum  actually 
needed — a  struggle  which  compels  resort  to  any  and 
every  kind  of  effort  to  make  ends  meet  that  were 
never  intended  to  meet.  Again,  there  must  be  a 
larger  support  in  the  way  of  facihties  for  doing  work. 
In  many  cases  a  man's  real  power  in  the  course  of  a 
year  would  be  doubled  if  there  were  only  a  hundred 
dollars  with  which  to  purchase  this  or  that  necessity 
for  his  work — a  necessity  the  lack  of  which  dis- 
courages and  disheartens  him  to  such  an  extent 
that  all  spirit  for  his  work  is  lost.  And,  finally,  there 
must  be  a  pension  system  in  every  institution;  for 
the  lack  of  a  pension  system  is  a  source  of  continu 
ous  and  incalculable  waste.  The  one  condition  of 
the  highest  intellectual  effort  is  repose  of  mind 
This  repose  of  mind  is  impossible  if  the  professor 
realizes,  as  he  must,  that  in  case  of  illness  or  inability 
to  perform  his  daily  routine  he  will  be  thrown  out 
upon  the  world  with  nothing  back  of  him,  or  that  in 
the  case  of  his  death  his  family  will  be  without  means 
of  support ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  satisfaction, 
the  contentment  of  mind,  based  upon  the  knowledge 
that,  whatever  happens,  there  will  be  an  opportunity 
to  Uve,  will  stimulate  him  to  stronger  and  more 
effective  activity. 


'( 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  109 

Thus,  while  we  are  talking  of  our  economy,  the 
facts  show  that  we  are  guilty  of  an  extravagant  waste 
for  which  no  amount  of  money  will  make  compensa- 
tion— a  waste  of  mental  vigor,  of  creative  power,  due 
to  overwork  and  anxiety  for  lack  of  that  which  might 
be  supplied  with  but  a  httle  management.  The 
pension  system,  too,  would  remove  all  sentimental 
ground  for  retaining  in  office  men  whose  work  was 
finished,  and  so  there  would  be  here  a  double  econo- 
my to  prevent  waste. 

I  have  spoken  now  of  most  of  the  factors  which, 
in  the  work  of  institutions  of  higher  learning,  gener- 
ate waste.  In  conclusion  it  remains  to  say  a  word 
concerning  the  institution  itself  as  a  source  of  waste 
in  the  work  of  higher  education.  I  have  in  mind 
three  things:  the  waste  rising  from  unnecessary 
competition — the  unnecessary  dupHcation  of  work; 
the  waste  which  comes  when  higher  work  is  under- 
taken at  the  expense  of  lower;  and  the  waste  involved 
in  the  substitution  of  pretense  for  fulfilment.  These 
topics  require  barely  to  be  mentioned,  for  they  will 
be  understood  by  everyone  who  has  given  even  a 
little  thought  to  the  work  of  higher  education. 

The  fact  must  be  apparent  that  there  are  too 
many  colleges — not  too  many  good  colleges,  but  too 
many  such  as  they  are;  the  result  is  a  competition 
which  in  many  ways  demoraHzes  the  work  of  higher 
education  and  leads  to  waste.  I  could  furnish  a 
hundred  examples,  but  one  will  suffice.  I  refer  to 
the  lowering  of  their  admission  requirements  by  two 


no      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  our  western  state  universities  in  order  to  draw  the 
students  away  from  non- state  institutions — an  effort 
attended,  unfortunately,  with  marked  success.  When 
we  take  into  account  the  great  numbers  of  so-called 
higher  institutions,  all  founded  on  the  same  plan, 
and  nearly  all  lacking  any  adequate  equipment  for 
work  in  science,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  the  waste 
involved  in  this  dupHcation  of  work,  when  other 
work  of  a  more  important  character  is  left  untouched. 
And  when  we  recall  that  nearly  every  institution 
called  college  or  university  feels  itself  under  the 
necessity  of  trying  to  cover  the  whole  field  of  human 
knowledge,  and  that  consequently  no  single  part 
receives  in  these  institutions  even  decent  attention, 
we  ask:  Why  do  intelligent  men  continue  thus  to  sin 
against  reason  and  against  God  by  bringing  shame 
and  reproach  upon  a  cause  so  holy  as  that  of  higher 
education  ? 

This  suggests  immediately  a  second  kind  of 
gross  institutional  waste;  viz.,  the  doing  of  higher 
work  at  the  expense  of  the  lower.  There  are  at 
least  two  hundred  colleges  and  (so-called)  univer- 
sities in  the  United  States  of  whose  work  this  state- 
ment may  be  made.  These  institutions  have  a 
preparatory  school  as  well  as  a  college  course. 
The  number  of  students  in  the  preparatory  school  is, 
let  us  say,  one  hundred  and  fifty;  in  the  freshmen 
and  sophomore  classes,  forty;  in  the  junior  and 
senior  classes,  twenty  to  thirty.  The  income  is 
restricted  for  the  most  part  to  the  fees  of  the  students, 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  iii 

and  will  average  possibly,  from  all  sources,  twelve 
to  fourteen  thousand  dollars.  In  order  to  keep  up 
the  name  of  college,  the  income  is  made  to  cover 
the  expense  of  seven  or  eight  years;  i.  e.,  the  pre- 
paratory and  the  college.  In  order  to  do  the  work 
of  the  junior  and  senior  years,  even  nominally, 
when  the  classes  are  so  small,  as  much  of  the  total 
income  is  spent  upon  the  instruction  of  these  years 
as  for  that  of  the  five  or  six  years  below.  It  must  be 
evident,  then,  that  even  with  this  disproportionate 
expenditure  the  work  of  the  junior  and  senior 
college  years  can  in  such  institutions  be  done  only 
in  a  superficial  way.  For  in  them  the  faciUties  of 
libraries  and  laboratories  are  largely  lacking;  the 
range  of  elective  work  is  very  narrow;  and  a  single 
instructor  is  expected  to  offer  work  in  two  or  three 
or  four  distinct  departments.  The  most  significant 
fact  in  the  situation,  however,  is  that,  the  money 
paid  by  the  students  in  the  lower  years  having  been 
used  for  supplying  a  superficial  instruction  in  the 
last  two  years  (in  order  that  the  institution  might 
be  called  a  college),  there  is  not  a  sufficient  income 
remaining,  even  upon  the  most  meager  calculation, 
to  do  justice  to  the  work  of  the  lower  years.  This  I 
call  an  attempt  to  do  higher  work  at  the  expense  of 
the  lower,  and  this  is  one  of  the  greatest  sources 
of  .waste.  Nor  is  this  waste  confined  to  the  work  of 
states  in  the  West  and  South.  I  could  name  more 
than  one  instance  of  the  kind  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  and  there  are  many  such  in  Pennsylvania, 


112      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan.  If  the 
money  stolen  from  the  students  in  the  lower  years 
were  sufficient  to  make  good  work  possible  in  the 
last  two  years,  there  might  be  some  justification  for 
the  theft;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  effort  to  do 
the  higher  work  is  a  failure  and  carries  with  it  failure 
to  do  honest  work  in  the  lower  years.  Here  then  is 
a  waste  which  amounts  to  fraud. 

We  shall  all  agree,  however,  that  the  waste 
which  is  gravest  in  character  and  the  most  detri- 
mental in  its  results  is  that  involved  in  the  substitu- 
tion of  pretense  for  fulfilment.  And  I  am  not 
referring  to  the  so-called  institutions,  in  some  of  our 
great  cities,  which  sell  their  degrees  and  diplomas 
to  those  who  are  able  and  wiUing  to  buy  them. 
There  is  real  honesty  in  this  transaction.  Every 
man  knows  what  he  is  purchasing  and  for  how 
much  he  purchases  it.  The  institution  makes  no 
pretense  of  furnishing  instruction  or  of  giving  an 
education.  Its  only  proposition  is  to  sell  a  parch- 
ment at  a  high  price,  and  it  has  the  legal  right  to 
make  such  sale.  This,  I  repeat,  is  a  fair  and  honest 
transaction.  There  is  no  deceit;  the  purchaser  gets 
just  what  he  bargains  for.  And,  besides,  this  kind 
of  work  does  not  fall  within  the  field  of  higher 
education.  It  belongs  rather  to  the  sphere  of  the 
rag-gatherer  and  the  rag  merchant;  for,  when 
reduced  to  its  last  analysis,  it  proves  to  be  such  a 
commerce  as  this. 

Of  vastly  more  consequence,   however,   is  the 


'  WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  113 

deception  practiced  upon  unsuspecting  young  men 
and  women  by  institutions  which  do  give  instruc- 
tion of  a  sort,  under  the  name  of  college  instruction. 
And  these  institutions  put  upon  such  teaching  a 
label  that  makes  it  pass  for  something  which  it 
really  is  not.  The  victim  is  the  student  from  the 
country  village  or  the  farm,  who  cannot  be  expected 
to  know  that  he  is  being  defrauded.  Such  institu- 
tions will  be  found  all  through  the  Middle  States, 
the  West,  and  South,  and,  strange  to  say,  those 
who  most  commonly  practice  this  fraudulent  waste 
are  the  representatives  of  our  rehgious  denomina- 
tions, who,  for  the  sake  of  denominational  pride, 
stoop  to  call  the  institution,  which  is  not  even  a 
well-equipped  academy,  by  the  name  of  college  or 
university.  Here  is  waste  on  a  gigantic  scale — 
waste  of  time  and  energy,  and,  worst  of  all,  waste 
of  character. 

But  I  must  make  an  end.  It  is  stated  in  the 
beginning  of  this  paper  that  the  remedies  for  these 
various  kinds  of  waste  would  be  briefly  suggested. 
It  is  clear  now  that  I  can  merely  name  them. 

For  the_wast.e.£onn€€^ed-with  the  work  of  prepa- 
ration  a  ^remedy  will  be  JQiind^JLihe^.  larger  in- 
stitutions will  co-operate  TfTlKe^'eff^^  unify 
the  requirements  for  admission;  and  if  institutions 
of  higher  and  secondary  education  will  co-operate 
to  do  away  with  the^vils  which  now  occasion  waste. 
This  co-operation  must,  in  order  to  be  effective^. 
'be  a  formal  co-operation.     The  passing  of  harmless 


114      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

resolutions  at  our  various  conferences  will  accom- 
plish nothing;  there  is  needed  serious  and  systematic 
work. 

For    the    waste    connected    with    the    external 
machinery  of  our  institutions  the  waste  involved 
in  the  present  artificial  division  into  four  years, 
I       and  into  years  of  nine  months'   work  and  three 
\      months'  vacation,  and  in  the  dissipation  growing 
\     out  of  a  lack  of  concentration,  a  remedy  will  be 
1     found  in  abandoning,  wherever  possible,  this  tra- 
I    ditional  arrangement;  an  arrangement  which  came 
\   into  use  before  the  doctrine  of  individualism  had 
\  begun  to  be  appHed  to  education,  and  which,  that 
\doctrine  having  once  been  introduced,  now  proves 
impracticable  and  injurious.     President  EHot's  sug- 
gestion to  allow  men  to  graduate  in  the  middle  of 
the  year  is  a  step  in  this  direction.     The  organiza- 
tion of  work  in  the  summer  months,  which  is  organ- 
ically a  part  of  the  university  work,  is  another  step. 
And  in  doing  these  things  we  are  but  forsaking  the 
hard  and  fast  Hnes  laid  down  by  our  ancestors 
under  a  mistaken  conception  of  what  higher  educa- 
tion meant,  and  adopting  the  broader  and  more 
liberal  poHcy  of  the  German  universities. 
fi  I      For  the  waste  involved  in  the  failure  of  the  univer- 
sity to  deal  specifically  with  each  student,  its  failure 
to  use  in  every  case  the  proper  method  of  instruc- 
tion, and,  above  all,  its  failure  properly  to  correlate 
•his  work,  a  remedy  will  be  found  in  the  provision 
of  officers  whose  first  duty  it  will  be  to  make  exhaus- 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  115 

tive  study  of  each  individual  student  in  some  such 
manner  as  a  physician  would  study  the  case  of  his 
patient;  in  the  admission  of  no  man  to  the  position 
of  instructor  whose  ability  to  teach  has  not  been 
absolutely  demonstrated;  and  in  the  furnishing  of 
such  instruction  as  will,  to  some  extent  at  least, 
exhibit  the  organized  structure  and  relationship  of 
the  various  departments  of  university  work. 
V)  For  the  present  waste  connected  with  the  admis- 
sion of  students  who  have  no  business  in  college, 
with  the  working  of  the  elective  system,  and  with 
the  removal  of  students  from  one  institution  to 
another,  a  remedy  will  be  found  in  a  closer  pre- 
liminary study  of  the  antecedents  of  each  student; 
in  making  provision  for  a  student's  honorable 
withdrawal  at  the  end  of  the  sophomore  year, 
with  full  recognition  for  the  work  he  has  done; 
the  establishing  of  a  better  system  of  advisorship 
than  any  that  has  yet  been  arranged ;  and  in  perfect- 
ing arrangements  between  institutions  whereby  the 
work  of  one  shall  be  recognized  at  its  full  value  in 
another.  Let  advanced  students  who  are  so  incHned 
be  encouraged  to  plan  for  work  in  at  least  two 
institutions.  Here  again  Germany's  Hberal  pohcy 
is  worthy  of  adoption. 
^  For  the  waste  which  is  incurred  today  in  retain- 
ing incompetent  instructors,  in  requiring  of  each 
instructor  too  much  routine  work,  and  in  the  failure 
to  make  proper  financial  provision,  the  remedy  is  a 
simple  one — more  money;    more  money  for  depart- 


ii6      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

ments,  that  the  proper  facilities  and  the  requisite 
number  of  instructors  may  be  provided;  more  money 
for  the  salaries  of  instructors,  that  they  may  live 
lives  of  greater  service  to  the  university;  and  more 
money  for  the  pension  fund,  without  which  an 
institution  is  at  best  only  half  an  institution.  Per- 
haps there  is  something  which  many  institutions 
now  have  with  which  they  could  dispense,  and  the 
waste  be  greatly  reduced;  I  mean  that  thing  called 
influence — influence  of  relatives  and  friends;  influ- 
ence of  politicians;  influence  even  of  wives  of  rela- 
tives and  friends  and  politicians. 

For  the  waste  which  is  incurred  in  connection 
with  institutions  themselves  a  remedy  will  be  found 
in  the  organization  in  every  state  of  the  Union  of 
some  such  agency  as  that  of  the  Regents  of  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  to  which  shall 
be  committed  a  general  oversight  of  the  educational 
affairs  of  the  state;  and,  second,  the  reduction  of 
many  of  our  colleges  to  the  rank  of  academies,  or 
of  colleges  doing  in  addition  to  the  preparatory 
work  only  the  work  of  the  freshman  and  sophomore 
years.  This  would  accomplish  several  important 
results.  It  would  mean  that  the  money  now  wasted 
in  doing  the  higher  work  superficially  could  be  used 
to  do  the  lower  work  more  thoroughly;  that  the 
pretense  of  giving  a  college  education  would  be 
given  up,  and  the  college  could  become  honest; 
that  the  student  who  was  not  really  fitted  by  nature 
to  take  the  higher  work  could  stop  naturally  and 


WASTE  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION  117 

honorably  at  the  end  of  the  sophomore  year;  and 
that  many  students  who  have  not  the  courage  to 
enter  upon  a  four-year  course  would  be  wilHng  to 
do  the  two  years'  work  before  entering  business  or 
the  professional  school;  that  students  capable  of 
doing  higher  work  would  be  compelled  to  go  away 
to  the  university — a  change  which  would  in  every 
case  be  most  advantageous;  and,  finally,  that  stu- 
dents Uving  near  the  institution,  whose  ambition  it 
was  to  go  away  to  college,  could  remain  at  home 
until  greater  maturity  had  been  reached — a  point  of 
highest  moment  in  these  days  of  strong  temptation. 
This  remedy,  the  substitution  of  a  six-year 
institution  (including  the  academy  or  high-school 
course)  for  the  present  four-year  institution  (without 
preparatory  work),  would  at  one  stroke  touch  the 
gravest  of  the  evils  of  our  present  situation.  I  am 
not  pessimistic.  I  know,  and  we  all  know,  that  the 
cause  of  higher  education  has  made  mighty  progress 
in  the  last  decade.  We  are  on  the  eve  of  great  things 
— greater  things  than  our  nation  has  ever  known. 
In  all  national  progress  the  work  of  the  college  and 
university  is  an  essential  factor.  It  is  our  duty, 
therefore,  to  see  that  this  work  is  performed  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  produce  the  greatest  possible  results 
with  the  least  possible  waste. 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  IN  EDUCATION' 

Some  of  us  live  too  exclusively  in  the  past.  Its 
ideas  and  its  institutions  are  so  sacred  to  us  that  to 
separate  ourselves  from  them,  to  allow  other  ideas 
and  institutions  to  be  substituted  for  them,  or  to 
be  placed  side  by  side  with  them,  seems  almost 
sacrilege. 

In  Hke  manner,  some  of  us  live  too  exclusively 
in  the  present.  Such  of  us  do  not  deem  it  worth 
while  to  study  the  past,  that  which  is  at  hand  being 
more  than  sufficient  to  occupy  our  attention.  To 
spend  one's  time  groping  about  in  the  darkness 
of  antiquity,  when  one  might  work  with  the  fullest 
satisfaction  in  all  the  brightness  of  midday,  or  to 
occupy  oneself  in  putting  forth  with  reference  to 
the  future  conjectures  which  at  best  must  always 
be  something  hazy  and  indefinite,  seems  to  be  a 
waste  of  energy,  an  expenditure  of  time  worse  than 
foolish. 

And,  then,  there  are  some  of  us  who  Uve  too 
exclusively  in  the  future.  Ignorant  of  the  past, 
or  forgetful  of  it,  blind  to  the  environments  in 
which  we  have  been  placed,  lacking  sympathy 
with  everything  that  surrounds  us,  we  permit,  nay 

I  Read  at  the  dedication  of  the  Library  of  Colorado  College, 
Colorado  Springs,  March  14,  1894. 

118 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  m  EDUCATION  119 

force,  the  mind  to  occupy  itself  with  that  which  is 
far  distant.  In  this  field  no  limitations  present 
themselves.  Difficulties,  we  persuade  ourselves, 
may  be  left  for  consideration  when  they  actually 
arise.  With  no  dead  past  to  haunt  us,  with  no 
anxious  present  to  disturb,  we  revel  in  the  future. 

But  the  world  of  today  does  not  recognize  true 
manhood  in  that  person  who  thus  commits  himself, 
whether  the  committal  be  to  the  past,  the  present, 
or  the  future.  The  modern  man,  whether  scholar 
or  practical  worker,  whether  statesman  or  business 
man  or  educator,  must  know  the  past,  must  be  in 
touch  with  the  present,  and  must  anticipate  the 
future.  To  know  the  past  is  a  duty;  to  be  in  touch 
with  the  present,  an  imperative  necessity;  to  have 
constantly  in  mind  the  future,  a  privilege  which 
will  prove  the  source  at  once  of  comfort  and  of 
inspiration.  Every  movement  has  its  history,  its 
present  struggles,  its  future  ideals.  It  is  not  easy 
to  make  a  satisfactory  collection  of  the  statistics 
of  the  past.  It  is  more  difficult  to  organize  the 
elements  which  compose  the  present.  It  is  still 
more  difficult,  though  for  some  more  fascinating, 
to  indicate  Hnes  of  future  development. 

I  may  now  be  pardoned  if  I  ask  your  considera- 
tion of  one  or  two  factors  in  educational  work  which 
were  almost  unknown  in  the  past  of  twenty-five  or 
fifty  years  ago;  which  today  may  be  said  to  constitute 
the  new  in  education;  of  the  full  significance  of  which 
in  the  days  that  are  coming  we  dare  not  even  dream. 


I20      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  the  library  in  most 
of  our  institutions,  even  the  oldest,  was  scarcely 
large  enough,  if  one  were  to  count  the  volumes,  or 
valuable  enough,  if  one  were  to  estimate  values, 
to  deserve  the  name  of  library.  So  far  as  it  had 
location,  it  was  the  place  to  which  the  professor 
was  accustomed  to  make  his  way  occasionally,  the 
student  almost  never.  It  was  open  for  consultation 
during  perhaps  one  hour  a  day  on  three  days  a  week. 
The  better  class  of  students,  it  was  understood, 
had  no  time  for  reading.  It  was  only  the  "ne'er 
do  well,"  the  man  with  little  interest  in  the  class- 
room textbook,  who  could  find  time  for  general 
reading.  Such  reading  was  a  distraction,  and  a 
proposition  that  one  might  profit  by  consulting 
other  books  which  bore  upon  the  subject  or  subjects 
treated  in  the  textbook  would  have  been  scouted. 
All  such  work  was  thought  to  be  distracting.  The 
addition  of  one  hundred  volumes  in  a  single  year 
was  something  noteworthy.  The  place,  seldom  fre- 
quented, was  some  out-of-the-way  room  which  could 
serve  no  other  use.  The  librarian — there  was  none. 
Why  should  there  have  been?  Any  officer  of  the 
institution  could  perform  the  needed  service  without 
greatly  increasing  the  burden  of  his  official  duties. 
Is  this  statement  overdrawn?  Let  me  produce  the 
evidence:  The  late  hbrarian  of  Newberry  Librar}^, 
WiUiam  Frederick  Poole,  to  whom  more  than  to 
any  other  belongs  the  credit  of  the  existence  of  the 
new  regime,  so  far  as  Ubraries  are  concerned,  in 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  IN  EDUCATION  121 

an  address  delivered  a  few  months  before  his  death 
made  this  statement : 

To  those  of  us  who  graduated  thirty,  or  forty,  or  more 
years  ago,  books,  outside  of  the  textbooks  used,  had  no  part 
in  our  education.  They  were  never  quoted,  recommended, 
nor  mentioned  by  the  instructors  in  the  classroom.  As  I 
remember  it,  Yale  College  Library  might  as  well  have  been 
in  Weathersfield,  or  Bridgeport,  as  in  New  Haven,  so  far  as 
the  students  in  those  days  were  concerned. 

It  was  only  in  comparatively  recent  times  that  a 
Hbrarian  was  appointed  at  Harvard  or  at  Yale  who 
should  give  his  entire  time  to  the  care  of  the  hbrary. 
There  are  today  many  institutions,  which  rank  high  in 
their  particular  communities,  in  which  one  will  find 
the  same  hbrary  conditions  as  those  which  Mr.  Poole 
described  as  having  existed  at  Yale  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago.  I  know  of  a  college  having  an  enrolment 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  students,  which  each  year 
"graduates"  certain  of  its  students,  and  yet  in  a 
room  ten  by  twelve  bearing  the  name  of  hbrary 
has  not  two  hundred  and  fifty  volumes!  To  find 
the  oldest  and  most  primitive  bounds  of  civihzation 
we  must  go  to  the  heart  of  Africa,  or  the  frontiers 
of  our  own  country  occupied  by  the  Indians!  But 
for  the  old  in  education  it  is  only  necessary,  one  might 
say,  to  step  across  the  street. 

But  the  stage  of  development  attained  must  be 
determined  from  the  study  of  the  highest,  not  the 
lowest,  class,  and  although  the  old  is  all  about  us, 
there  is  also  the  new.  Today  the  chief  building  of 
a  college,  the  building  in  which  is  taken  greatest 


122      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

pride,  is  the  library.  With  the  stack  for  storage 
purposes,  the  reading-room  for  reference  books,  the 
offices  of  delivery,  the  rooms  for  seminar  purposes, 
it  is  the  center  of  the  institutional  activity.  The 
director  of  the  library  is  not  infrequently  one  of  the 
most  learned  men  of  the  faculty;  in  many  instances 
certainly,  the  most  influential.  Lectures  are  some- 
times given  by  him  on  bibliography,  or  classes 
organized  for  instruction  in  the  use  of  books.  The 
staff  of  assistants  is  often  larger  than  the  entire 
faculty  in  the  same  institution  thirty  years  ago. 
Volumes  are  added  to  the  number  of  3,000,  5,000, 
10,000,  or  20,000  in  a  single  year;  the  periodical 
literature  of  each  department  is  on  file;  the  building 
is  open  day  and  night.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  laboratory; 
for  here  now  the  student,  and  Hkewise  the  professor, 
who  cannot  purchase  for  themselves  the  books  which 
they  must  have,  spend  the  larger  portion  of  their 
time.  A  greater  change  from  the  old  can  hardly 
be  conceived. 

But  you  will  allow  me  to  say  a  word  about  the 
future  of  the  library.  The  time  is  coming — it  has, 
indeed,  already  come — when,  in  addition  to  the 
general  Hbrary  of  the  institution,  each  department, 
or  each  closely  related  group  of  departments,  will 
have  its  separate  library.  This  will  include  the 
books  in  most  common  use,  and  the  maps  and  charts 
of  special  value.  The  departmental  Hbrary,  now  a 
feature  of  a  few  institutions,  will  be  estabHshed 
everywhere,  not  alone  for  advanced  students,  but  as 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  IN  EDUCATION  123 

well  for  the  undergraduates.  It  is  true  that  the  cost 
of  administration  and  the  danger  from  loss  of  books 
are  great;  but  the  advantages  are  also  great,  and 
must  be  gained  at  whatever  cost.  The  time  is 
near  when  the  student  will  do  little  of  his  work  in 
the  study;  he  must  be  in  the  midst  of  books.  No 
ordinary  student  can  afford  to  own  one  book  in  a 
hundred  of  those  which  he  may  wish  at  any  moment 
to  consult.  As  the  scholar,  though  having  thousands 
of  volumes  in  his  own  library,  must  find  his  way  to 
the  great  Hbraries  of  the  Old  World  when  he  wishes 
to  do  the  work  of  highest  character,  so  the  university 
student,  though  having  hundreds  of  volumes  in  his 
own  room,  must  do  his  work  in  the  departmental 
library  of  the  institution.  The  reference  room  is 
not  sufficient,  here  only  books  of  a  general  character 
are  open  to  him.  His  table  must  be  where,  without 
a  moment's  delay,  without  the  mediation  of  the 
zealous  librarian,  who  perhaps  thinks  more  of  the 
book  than  of  its  use,  he  may  place  his  hand  upon 
that  one  of  ten  or  twenty  thousand  books  which  he 
desires  to  use.  In  the  address  already  cited,  Mr. 
Poole  said: 

None  of  the  universities  named  [these  were  Johns  Hop- 
kins, Yale,  Hansard,  Cornell,  and  Michigan]  have  as  yet  quite 
come  up  to  the  high  standard  of  having  a  professor  of  bibHog- 
raphy,  but  they  are  moving  in  that  direction.  . 

Some  of  us  will  see  the  day  when  in  every  great 
division  of  the  university  there  will  be  professors  of 
bibliography  and  methodology,  whose  function  it 


124      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

will  be  to  teach  men  books,  and  how  to  use  them. 
It  is  pitiable  to  find  that  many  graduates  of  our  very 
best  colleges  are  unable,  upon  taking  up  the  more 
advanced  work  in  divinity  or  in  graduate  courses, 
to  make  good  use  of  books.  They  can  find  nothing; 
do  not  know  how  to  proceed  in  order  to  find  any- 
thing. No  more  important,  no  more  useful,  train- 
ing can  be  given  men  in  college  than  that  which 
relates  to  the  use  of  books.  Why  do  so  many  col- 
lege men  give  up  reading  when  they  leave  college  ? 
Because  in  college  they  have  never  learned  the  use 
of  books.  The  equipment  of  the  library  will  never 
be  finished  until  it  have  upon  its  staff  men  and 
women  whose  sole  work  shall  be,  not  the  care  of 
books,  not  the  cataloguing  of  books,  but  the  giving 
of  instruction  concerning  their  use. 

The  library  of  the  future  has,  however,  still 
another  function  to  perform.  It  will  come  to  be, 
not  simply  a  collecting  agency,  the  house  of  storage, 
but  also  an  agency  for  pubHcation  and  distribution. 
It  may  seem  that  I  am  now  confusing  the  work  of 
two  distinct  agencies.  I  answer,  No.  The  pub- 
lications of  the  future  which  are  to  exert  the  great- 
est influence  for  good  upon  mankind  at  large  will 
be  endowed  pubHcations.  The  pubHshing  houses 
of  our  country  will  always  restrict  themselves  to 
the  pubHcation  of  works  the  financial  returns  from 
which  are  reasonably  certain.  The  scientific  works 
in  every  department  must  be  issued  through  the 
munificence  of  private  gifts  for  university  endow- 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  IN  EDUCATION  125 

ments;  In  time  these  private  gifts  will  for  the  most 
part  come  through  the  university.  The  university- 
press,  therefore,  is  strictly  a  part  of  the  university 
library,  and  through  it,  even  in  our  day,  we  shall 
see  the  influence  and  power  of  the  library  greatly 
increased.  That  factor  of  our  college  and  univer- 
sity work,  the  library,  fifty  years  ago  almost  unknown, 
today  already  the  center  of  the  institution's  intellec- 
tual activity,  half  a  century  hence — with  its  sister, 
the  laboratory,  almost  equally  unknown  fifty  years 
back — will,  by  absorbing  all  else,  have  become  the 
institution  itself. 

But  this  equipment  includes  also  the  laboratory, 
just  mentioned.  The  old  regime  may  be  said  to 
have  had  no  laboratory,  for  the  laboratory  is  an  insti- 
tution altogether  modern.  Those  of  us  who  left 
college  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  years  ago  scarcely 
knew  such  a  thing  as  a  laboratory.  The  library  had 
a  small  place  in  college  life ;  the  laboratory  had 
almost  none. 

A  little  farther  back  the  situation  in  Germany 
was  the  same.  I  quote  a  few  statements  from  an 
address  delivered  by  Professor  Ira  M.  Remsen: 

Liebig,  the  noted  chemist,  says  of  the  teaching  of  chemis- 
try in  Germany  about  1820:  "It  was  then  a  very  wretched 
time  for  chemistry  in  Germany.  At  most  of  the  universities 
there  was  no  special  chair  of  chemistry.  It  was  generally 
handed  over  to  the  professor  of  medicine,  who  taught  it,  or 
as  much  as  he  knew  of  it — and  that  was  little  enough — along 
with  the  branches  of  toxicology,  pharmacology,  materia 
medica,  and  practical  medicine."    Referring  to  the  equip- 


126      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

raent  of  universities  for  the  teaching  of  chemistry,  he  says:  "I 
remember  at  a  much  later  period  Professor  Wurze,  who  had 
the  chair  of  chemistry  at  Marburg,  showing  me  a  wooden 
table  drawer  which  had  the  property  of  producing  quicksilver 
every  three  months.  He  possessed  an  apparatus,  which 
mainly  consisted  of  a  long  clay  pipestem,  with  which  he  con- 
verted oxygen  into  nitrogen  by  making  the  porous  pipestem 
red-hot  in  charcoal  and  passing  oxygen  through  it.  Chemical 
laboratories  in  which  instruction  in  chemical  analysis  was 
imparted  existed  nowhere  at  that  time.  What  passed  by 
that  name  were  more  like  kitchens  filled  with  all  sorts  of 
furnaces  and  utensils  for  the  carrying  out  of  metallurgical 
processes.    No  one  really  understood  how  to  teach  it." 

At  a  later  period  Liebig,  appointed  professor  of 
chemistry  at  Giessen,  built  the  first  chemical  labora- 
tory. Of  the  school  established  by  him  Professor 
Remsen  says: 

The  foundation  of  this  school  made  an  epoch,  not  only  in 
the  history  of  chemical  science,  but  in  the  history  of  science. 
....  The  scientific  method,  as  it  has  been  called,  has  been 
spread  among  men,  and  has  changed  the  whole  aspect  of 
things.  The  influence  of  the  laboratory  is  felt  in  every  branch 
of  knowledge.  The  methods  of  investigation  have  changed, 
and  everywhere  the  scientific  method  has  been  adopted.  The 
laboratory  has  impressed  upon  the  world  the  truth  that,  in 
order  to  learn  about  anything,  it  will  not  sufiice  to  stand  aloof 
and  speculate,  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  come  into  as  close 
contact  with  that  thing  as  possible.  When  the  old  philosopher 
wished  to  solve  a  problem,  his  method  was  to  sit  down  and 
think  about  it.  He  relied  upon  the  working  of  his  brain  to 
frame  a  theory;  and  beautiful  theories  were  undoubtedly 
framed.  Many  of  these,  probably  all  of  those  which  had 
reference  to  natural  phenomena,  were  far  in  advance  of  facts 
known,  and  often  directly  opposed  to  facts  discovered  later. 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  IN  EDUCATION  127 

Minds  were  not  hampered  by  facts,  and  theories  grew  apace. 
The  age  was  one  of  mental  operations.  A  beautiful  thought 
was  evidently  regarded  as  something  much  superior  to  knowl- 
edge. We  have  not  learned  to  think  less  of  beautiful  thoughts 
or  of  mental  processes,  but  we  have  learned  to  think  more  of 
facts,  and  to  let  our  beautiful  thoughts  be  guided  by  them. 

Today,  therefore,  the  laboratory,  unknown  half 
a  century  ago,  occupies  the  position  of  honor  next  to 
the  library.  It  may  be  said  that  the  laboratory  has 
outstripped  the  Hbrary.  With  but  few  exceptions, 
institutions  have  but  one  Hbrary,  though  many  of 
them  have  several  laboratories.  These  laboratories 
are  not  yet,  even  in  the  better  institutions,  what 
they  should  be.  Still,  as  has  been  said,  we  may 
determine  the  stage  of  development  by  the  highest 
types.  A  distinct  laboratory,  though  not  always  a 
separate  building,  will  now  be  provided  for  each 
of  the  departments  of  natural  science,  physics, 
chemistry,  geology  and  mineralogy,  zoology,  pale- 
ontology, anatomy,  physiology,  anthropology,  and 
the  rest.  The  building  and  equipment  for  a  single 
one  of  these  will  cost  more  than  the  entire  college 
plant  of  the  past  generation.  The  running  expenses, 
not  including  salary,  of  one  of  these  laboratories 
are  higher  today  than  the  whole  expense  of  all  the 
departments  of  science  in  the  days  of  our  fathers. 
The  progress  up  to  date  has  been  made  almost  en- 
tirely in  the  laboratories  of  physics  and  chemistry, 
and  in  the  observatories  for  astronomical  work. 
Even  here  the  present  dwarfs  the  past.  Only  a 
few  years  ago  the  eighteen-inch  telescope  was  a 


128      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

monster;  now  we  have  the  thirty-six  inch  at  the 
Lick  Observatory,  and  the  forty-inch  at  the  Yerkes 
Observatory. 

But  the  greatest  advance  which  the  future  is  to 
show  us  will  be  found  in  biological  laboratories; 
and  these,  so  far  as  this  country  is  concerned,  are 
largely  the  gift  of  the  future.  The  institution  really 
equipped  to  do  work  in  zoology  will  have  a  laboratory 
which  will  contain:  (i)  an  aquarium  room  large 
enough  for  twenty  or  more  aquaria;  (2)  a  zoological 
garden,  with  ponds  of  water  for  aquatic  animals, 
and  room  enough  for  birds  and  land  animals,  ar- 
ranged, not  for  the  use  of  the  pubhc,  but  exclusively 
for  scientific  work;  (3)  a  museum  room,  designed 
for  purposes  of  illustration  in  classroom  and  lecture 
work,  filled  with  embryological,  anatomical,  and 
histological  preparations,  and  the  most  important 
type  specimens  of  the  animal  kingdom;  (4)  the 
library  room  for  serial  publications,  such  as  the 
journals  and  proceedings  of  societies  and  academies, 
zoological  records,  reviews,  reports,  etc.;  references, 
guides,  charts,  etc.;  (5)  the  reading-room  for  cur- 
rent publications  and  hterature;  (6)  larger  labora- 
tories for  work  in  embryology,  comparative  anatomy, 
comparative  histology,  and  general  biology;  (7)  pri- 
vate laboratories  for  research  work  of  instructors; 
(8)  lecture-rooms  large  and  small.  This  laboratory 
will  have  as  annexes  a  fresh-water  station  on  lake 
or  river  near  by,  and  for  experimental  work  some 
marine  station,  where  the  instructor  and  the  student 
may   find   their   way   occasionally   for   study   and 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  IN  EDUCATION  129 

instruction  in  marine  life.  Anything  less  cannot 
hope  to  unite  the  different  fields  and  problems  of 
the  science  as  it  stands  even  today. 

The  physiological  laboratory  of  the  future  will 
be  something  amazing;  and  I  do  not  here  refer  to 
the  work  of  the  medical  school,  (i)  Like  the  zoo- 
logical laboratory,  it  will  have  rooms  with  constant 
temperature,  suppHed  with  aquaria;  and  rooms  in 
which  also  experiments  concerning  the  influence  of 
climate  upon  the  character  of  animal  forms  may 
be  made.  (2)  Like  the  zoological  laboratory  also, 
it  will  be  surrounded  by  a  garden  with  small  ponds, 
in  which  the  necessary  animal  and  plant  material 
may  be  obtained  at  any  time,  and  in  which  animals 
may  be  kept  and  observed  in  their  natural  condi- 
tions. (3)  In  view  of  the  important  part  played  by 
electricity  in  all  physiological  work  since  the  discov- 
eries of  Galvani,  a  part  of  the  building  will  be  con- 
structed without  the  use  of  iron,  and  equipped  for 
work  in  electro-physiology.  (4)  It  will  contain 
special  optical  rooms,  provided  with  optical  appa- 
ratus. (5)  A  special  room  will  also  be  fitted  up 
with  all  the  apparatus  of  acoustics  and  phonetics 
for  the  analysis  of  the  quahty  of  sounds.  (6)  The 
physiology  of  respiration  is,  after  all,  of  the  greatest 
importance,  and  rooms  for  gas  analysis  will  be 
arranged  and  the  different  apparatus  secured  for 
measuring  the  amount  of  air  given  and  taken  up. 
(7)  Elaborate  provision  will  be  made  for  the  solu- 
tion of  the  economic  and  legislative  problems  of 


I30      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

physiology,  such  as  the  quantity  of  animal  matter 
exhausted  in  the  various  forms  of  human  or  animal 
work.  (8)  Physiological  chemistry  constitutes  a 
great  division  of  physiology,  and  will  demand  all 
the  equipment  of  a  chemical  laboratory.  (9)  So 
important  is  the  role  of  photography  in  this,  as  in 
other  scientific  work,  that  photographic  rooms,  with 
photographic  outfit,  will  be  arranged.  (10)  The 
laboratory,  besides  all  this,  will  provide  electric 
power  for  every  room.  The  lecture-rooms  will  be 
so  arranged  as  to  be  darkened  at  any  moment. 
Preparation  rooms,  class  laboratory  rooms,  private 
laboratory  rooms,  storerooms,  Hbrary  room,  and  a 
reading-room  will  be  necessary.  The  equipment  at 
the  outset  will  cost  many  thousands  of  dollars,  in 
addition  to  the  building  and  its  ordinary  furniture. 
Five  thousand  dollars  a  year  will  be  needed  for  the 
running  expenses.  Such  a  laboratory  must  come,  will 
come,  and  within  our  day  will  be  dupUcated  many 
times.  This  is  one  feature  of  the  new  in  education. 
In  years  past  our  study  of  psychology  was  the 
simplest  possible;  we  used  a  single  textbook.  The 
colleges  and  universities  of  our  country,  now  with 
eight  or  ten  exceptions,  still  follow  the  simple  method. 
It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  problems  of  psy- 
chology demand  for  their  solution  along  experi- 
mental lines  the  combined  forces  of  physics,  physi- 
ology, neurology,  and  physical  anthropology.  No 
longer  the  simple  study  that  it  was,  it  is  now  become 
one  of  the  most  compound  of  the  sciences.     For  its 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  IN  EDUCATION  131 

development  almost  everything  called  for  in  the 
physiological  laboratory  is  needed,  and  much  more. 
For  comparative  psychology — how  that  word  ''com- 
parative" has  overturned  the  world  I  We  now 
speak  of  comparative  anatomy,  comparative  psy- 
chology, and  of  comparative  literature,  as  well  as 
of  comparative  philology — for  comparative  psy- 
chology, I  say,  we  must  provide  also  for  the  care  of 
living  animals,  the  study  of  which  under  various 
conditions  is  necessary. 

Some  of  all  this  has  come,  although  most  of  it 
is  in  the  future;  but  there  are  some  things  coming 
which  are  as  yet  altogether  of  the  future.  Of 
several,  one  which  I  shall  select  to  speak  of  is  the 
classical  laboratory.  The  future,  when  it  furnishes 
us  the  thing  itself,  will  perhaps  give  us  also  a  new 
name,  but  for  the  present  the  word  "laboratory" 
must  suffice.  Indeed,  it  is  particularly  appropriate 
here,  since  it  just  describes  my  thought  of  it.  I 
mean  a  place,  a  building,  adapted  to  the  work  of 
teaching  the  classics,  or,  if  you  prefer,  the  modern 
languages,  as  well  as  to  the  work  of  research  and 
investigation  in  these  studies,  precisely  as  the  chemi- 
cal and  physiological  and  zoological  laboratories 
are  adapted  to  these  purposes  in  their  departments. 
What  will  be  its  features  ?  (i)  A  closely  connecting 
system  of  departmental  libraries,  with  a  small  book- 
case and  a  working-table  for  each  student.  The 
chemical  student  has  his  own  table,  why  should  not 
the  classical  have  his  ?     (2)  Private  studies  for  the 


132      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

instructors.  Each  instructor  in  a  chemical  labora- 
tory has  his  private  laboratory;  each  instructor  in 
the  classical  laboratory  will  likewise  have  his  private 
laboratory.  This  is  necessary,  both  in  order  that 
he  may  be  near  the  students  who  are  engaged  upon 
a  particular  piece  of  work,  and  also  that  he  may  be 
more  secure  from  interruption  than  is  possible  in 
a  general  reading-room.  (3)  There  will  be  a  semi- 
nar room,  containing  the  books,  maps,  and  photo- 
graphs, and  fitted  for  particular  subjects.  (4)  In 
order  that  the  student  may  live  in  the  midst  of  things 
that  appeal  through  the  eye;  in  order  that  his  life, 
so  far  as  it  is  spent  in  the  classical  building,  may  be 
filled  with  the  sense  of  form  and  beauty,  as  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  possessed  it,  the  rooms  or  wings  em- 
ployed will  be  arranged  around  a  museum.  This 
museum  will,  of  course,  have  its  own  seminar  rooms 
and  offices,  and  its  own  lecture-rooms  so  arranged 
that  any  cast  may  be  wheeled  into  them,  and  used 
for  purposes  of  instruction.  And  no  doubt  represen- 
tative casts,  photographs,  and  maps  will  be  scattered 
through  all  the  rooms  accessible  to  the  student,  so 
that  wherever  he  goes  he  will  see  the  embodiment  of 
those  things  which  played  so  large  a  part  in  the 
ancient  scheme  of  life.  Each  department  will  have 
its  specific  collections  for  the  illustration  of  sculp- 
ture, of  fife,  and  of  architecture.  The  laboratory 
will  contain  also  reading-rooms  for  students,  sup- 
plied with  the  best  texts  and  editions,  and  with  the 
modern  literature  upon  the  subject. 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  IN  EDUCATION  133 

Now,  all  these  things  are  really  necessary.  And 
yet  it  has  always  been  assumed  that  a  recitation 
room,  or  a  recitation  room  and  a  small  Ubrary 
room,  were  all  that  a  classical  student  needed. 
This  is  a  mistake — a  mistake  which  the  future  will 
correct.  In  selecting  the  classical  laboratory,  as 
an  illustration  of  the  point  I  wish  to  emphasize,  I 
have  not  overlooked  the  necessity  of  a  sociological 
laboratory;  that,  too,  must  come. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  libraries  and  the  labora- 
tories with  their  equipment  as  constituting  the 
outside  of  educational  work.  This,  however,  is 
only  partly  true.  When  we  realize  that  the  method 
and  spirit  of  the  work  are  largely  determined  by 
these  outside  factors,  we  may  consent  to  allow  them 
a  place  upon  the  inside.  The  character  of  the 
work  fifty  years  ago  was  determined  in  large  meas- 
ure by  their  absence ;  their  presence  has  transformed 
the  whole  work  of  education,  and  the  work  of  trans- 
formation will  continue,  for  our  children  will  see 
realized  what  we  today  would  not  even  dare  to  dream 
of.  Nor  must  it  be  supposed  that  this  work  of 
transformation  will  affect  only  the  methods  of  teach- 
ing and  of  study.  This  change  has  already  taken 
place;  for  in  every  subject  of  the  college  curriculum 
the  laboratory  method  and  the  library  method  now 
hold  full  sway. 

The  greatest  changes  are  involved  in  the  revela- 
tion which  has  come  to  us  as  a  result  of  our  using 
these  methods.    We  begin  to  see  that  valuable  time 


134      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

is  being  wasted  in  the  conduct  of  our  educational 
machinery;  that  there  prevails  a  general  looseness 
which  characterizes  the  work  we  have  been  doing; 
that  thoroughness,  the  factor  most  greatly  needed, 
is  the  factor  most  conspicuous  for  its  absence;  and 
that  our  educational  efforts  lack  system,  the  intro- 
duction of  which  would  double  the  efficiency  of  the 
work  done,  save  two  to  four  years  in  the  Hfe  of 
every  student,  and  secure  a  thoroughness  that 
would  revolutionize  methods  in  politics,  in  business, 
and  in  letters. 

For  myself,  I  am  confident  that  the  discovery  of 
these  defects  in  our  school  and  college  work  is 
plainly  traceable  to  the  new  methods  which  the 
library  and  the  laboratory  have  brought  us.  I 
think,  moreover,  that  the  principles  which  un- 
derlie our  future  development,  and  which  shall 
furnish  remedies  for  these  defects,  are  principles  that 
have  been  learned,  in  so  far  as  they  have  been 
learned  at  all,  from  the  library  and  the  laboratory. 


OF  TH5  \ 

UNIVEP3   -       ^ 


or 


VI 

DEPENDENCE  OF  THE  WEST  UPON  THE 
EAST^ 

History  has  always  known  a  Westland,  but 
until  now  it  has  been  an  ever-changing,  ever- 
shifting  Westland.  When,  from  out  the  desert 
steppes  of  ancient  Arabia,  there  proceeded  through 
the  long  centuries  that  constant  flow  of  humanity 
through  which  the  nations  of  Semitic  blood  found 
their  various  distribution,  the  fruitful  valley  of  the 
Nile  became  the  first  Westland;  then  the  fertile 
regions  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates;  for,  though 
these  lay  north,  the  movements  to  and  through  them 
toward  the  sea  were,  in  fact,  westward.  After 
many  centuries  Palestine,  actually  called  /'the 
Westland"  by  old  Babylonian  kings,  became 
the  country  toward  which  migration  tended,  and 
in  which  great  world-problems  were  worked  out. 
The  sea-loving  Phoenicians,  and  later  the  Romans, 
pushed  civiHzation  still  farther  west,  until  the  east- 
em  shore  of  the  Atlantic  became  the  limit  and  the 
center  of  world-enterprise. 

In  a  more  modern  period  Westland  again  shifted 
itself;  this  time  to  the  New  World.  Here,  at  first,  the 
western  fringe  of  the  Atlantic,  with  the  adjacent  in- 

'tRead  at  the  bi-centennial  of  Yale  University,  October  21, 
1901. 

135 


136      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

land  territory,  represented  the  West  (and  in  those 
days,  two  hundred  years  ago,  Yale  College  was  a 
western  institution).  A  little  later  the  great  middle 
region  drained  by  the  Mississippi  became  the  West. 
This  is  the  Westland  of  our  times ;  and  this,  together 
with  the  country  still  beyond  the  mountains  called 
the  Far  West,  represents  the  last  step  westward  ever 
to  be  taken ;  for  he  who  stands  today  on  the  shore  of 
the  Pacific,  with  his  face  turned  toward  the  setting 
sun,  looks  no  longer  westward,  but  into  the  East. 
An  end  has  come  to  the  shifting  of  the  Westland. 

The  West  of  the  past  and  of  the  present,  wherever 
set  apart,  has  always  stood  for  something  quite  its 
own,  and  something  definite.  Its  contributions  made 
from  age  to  age  have  possessed  a  strong  and  dis- 
tinctive character.  It  has  represented  relief  from 
the  congestion  of  territory,  release  from  the  bonds  of 
conventionalism,  freedom  from  the  rigidity  of  tra- 
ditionalism. It  has  furnished  opportunity  for  effort 
on  the  part  of  those  who  had  tried  and  failed,  and 
those  to  whom  the  opportunity  to  try  had  not  before 
been  given.  It  has  brought,  also,  encouragement  for 
the  development  of  new  activities,  and  new  methods 
of  expression  for  activities  that  were  old;  incentive 
to  do  what  seemed  impossible  to  do;  what,  at  all 
events,  had  not  been  done.  It  has,  furthermore, 
provided  the  meeting-place  for  the  world's  contend- 
ing forces ;  often  itself  the  occasion  of  conflict  between 
older  powers;  often  the  scene  of  struggle  between 
advancing    civihzation    and    receding    barbarism; 


DEPENDENCE  OF  WEST  UPON  EAST       137 

and  still  more  often  the  battleground  for  new  and 
living  thoughts.  It  has  served  as  the  home  and 
school  of  democratic  ideas;  for  in  the  West  men 
have  lived  more  nearly  on  terms  of  equality,  and  in 
the  West  there  has  been  a  truer  exhibition  of  the 
spirit  of  fraternity. 

But  in  all  this  the  West  has  been  the  debtor  of 
the  East,  and  at  times  the  debt  has  been  so  large 
as  almost  to  preclude  adjustment — a  debt  so  great, 
in  fact,  that,  notwithstanding  frequent  payments, 
the  balance  due  the  East  has  been  altogether  start- 
Ung.  It  is  from  the  East  that  have  come  the  strong 
and  sturdy  spirits  who  have  led  the  West  in  its 
struggle  for  freedom  and  relief.  And  just  so  soon 
as  the  West  has  ceased  to  draw  thus  from  the  East 
it  has  ceased  to  be  a  Westland.  It  has  been  the 
conservative  influence  of  eastern  institutions  and 
eastern  thought  which  again  and  again  has  turned 
the  failure  of  radical  movement  and  adventure  into 
pronounced  success.  It  is  to  the  East  that  men  in 
the  West  and  Far  West  have  gone  for  peace  and 
calm,  away  from  struggle  and  the  bitter  strife.  It 
is  from  the  East  that,  through  all  the  years  and 
centuries,  has  come  that  higher  and  truer  spirit 
of  culture  and  refinement  the  possession  of  which, 
sooner  or  later,  has  always  been  found  necessary 
for  the  development  of  the  real  democratic  hfe — 
a  Hfe  in  which  the  highest  aim  is  service  to  one's 
fellow. 

The   East,   in    brief,   has    nurtured   the  West, 


138      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

giving  freely  of  its  strength  and  substance  to  steady 
and  restrain  the  West,  and  to  maintain  rigidly  the 
standard  by  which  the  West,  wiUing  or  unwilling, 
has  been  compelled  to  receive  judgment. 

Though  these  statements  are,  I  think,  in  general 
true  of  the  relation  of  the  West  and  East,  they  apply 
particularly  to  the  institutions  of  the  West  and  East. 
The  colleges  and  universities  of  the  West  cannot 
measure  the  debt  they  owe  to  eastern  institutions, 
and  to  no  institution  is  there  due  a  larger  debt  than 
to  Yale.  The  West  today,  through  its  many  and  able 
representatives  present,  brings  greetings  to  old 
Yale.  For  two  centuries  this  institution  has  been 
a  source  of  strength  and  inspiration,  a  messenger 
of  good  tidings  to  the  entire  western  country.  Every 
state  and  territory  of  the  West  and  Far  West  has 
felt  Yale's  touch;  for  Yale,  more  fully  than  any 
other  institution  of  the  East,  has,  through  her  loyal 
sons,  followed  step  by  step  the  westward  march 
of  civilization  over  river,  prairie,  and  through 
forest. 

Of  institutions  founded  by  the  sons  of  Yale  the 
West  is  full;  there  is  scarcely  a  faculty  which  does 
not  count  Yale  men  among  its  members.  All  these 
send  their  greetings.  I  bring  greetings,  also,  from 
those  universities  estabUshed  in  the  West  for  which 
the  different  states  provide  endowment.  To  these 
institutions,  the  noblest  and  most  disinterested 
expressions  of  the  democratic  spirit,  education  in 
the  West  is  most  largely  indebted  for  the  stage  of 


DEPENDENCE  OF  WEST  UPON  EAST       139 

prosperity  and  advancement  it  has  reached.  And 
Yale  has  had  full  share  in  the  work  of  providing 
from  her  alumni  men  who  should  fill  the  professorial 
and  administrative  offices  of  these  splendid  institu- 
tions. 

The  colleges  and  universities  of  the  West  unite 
in  presenting  to  Yale — the  president,  the  corporation, 
and  the  faculties — their  congratulations  for  the 
noble  service  rendered  in  the  past  to  all  humanity; 
they  unite  also  in  expressing  the  strongest  and  most 
cordial  wishes  for  the  prosperous  continuation  of  a 
work  the  magnitude  and  influence  of  which  only 
eternity  shall  measure. 


VII 

HIGHER  EDUCATION  IN  THE  WEST' 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  observe  and  to  make  re- 
mark upon  the  changes  which  have  taken  place  in 
the  world  of  higher  education  within  the  last  ten  or 
twenty  years.  Much  has  been  said  of  the  growth  of 
institutions  in  numbers,  scope,  and  efficiency.  Much 
has  been  said  likewise  of  the  modifications  in  subject- 
matter  of  curriculum  and  in  methods  of  work.  We 
are  led  almost  to  beUeve  that  not  only  in  higher 
realms,  but  in  the  lower,  education  today  is  a  wholly 
different  matter  when  compared  with  education  of 
former  times.  For  my  own  part  I  am  incHned  to 
think  that  change,  in  so  far  as  it  has  taken  place, 
is,  generally  speaking,  a  matter  of  form  rather  than 
of  essence.  The  result  gained  by  education  today 
is  probably  the  same  that  our  ancestors  secured, 
whatever  methods  they  employed.  We  have  yet  to 
learn,  perhaps,  that  it  is  with  education  as  with  re- 
ligion. Access  to  heaven  is  no  longer  restricted,  even 
by  the  most  rigid  sectarians,  to  a  single  path.  It  is 
important  for  educators  to  keep  in  mind  that  formal 
training  is  a  thing  of  varied  possibilities,  and  that 
for  different  individuals,  of  different  temperament, 

I  Read  at  the   Inauguration  of   Professor  E.  J.  James  as 
president  of  Northwestern  University,  October  21,  1902. 

140 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  IN  THE  WEST        141 

of  different  geographical  locality,  or  different  social 
environnient,  there  may  be  different  methods;  and 
that,  just  as  many  roads  led  to  Rome — ^in  fact,  all  of 
them — so  there  are  many  curricula  and  many  sched- 
ules of  work  and  many  'Varieties  of  method  to  be 
counted  and 'considered. 

But  there  is  one  question,  out  of  the  great  number 
connected  with  this  subject  of  modification  in  edu- 
cational work  and  differentiation  of  educational 
poHcy,  which,  perhaps,  deserves  special  mention. 
That  question  is  this:  Is  there  something  in  the 
(  eastern  institution  of  higher  education  which  is  not 
I  to  be  found  in  the  western,  and  is  there  something  in 
the  western  institution  which  the  eastern  does  not 
have?  Has  the  differentiation  between  East  and 
West  developed  types  of  education  which  may  in 
i  any  respect  be  called  different  ?  We  are  not  to  for- 
\  get,  of  course,  that  a  large  number  of  western  men 
are  in  eastern  institutions,  and  that  a  comparatively 
small  number  of  students  go  from  the  East  to  the 
West.  It  is  also  true  that  in  the  faculties  of  eastern 
institutions  are  many  men  who  by  birth  and  spirit 
are  western  men.  On  the  other  hand,  a  still  larger 
number  of  men  in  western  faculties  are  eastern  in 
their  birth  and  education.  I  ought  to  add  that  my 
question  has  to  do  rather  with  college  work  and  life 
than  with  university  work  and  Hfe. 

Is  western  college  Hfe  more  modern  than  the  east- 
em  ?  So  some  maintain.  Altogether  too  large  a  pro- 
portion of  our  college  Hfe  and  work  is  still  mediaeval 


142      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

in  its  character.  Here  belongs  everything  which  sug- 
gests that  the  student  has  rights  and  privileges  other 
than  those  of  an  ordinary  citizen;  that  he  is  to  be 
treated  on  a  difiFerent  basis,  or  that  there  shall  be  a 
different  standard  by  which  his  actions  shall  be 
measured.  It  is  in  accordance  with  this  mediaeval 
spirit  that  the  incoming  freshmen  must  be  hazed, 
and  that  the  pohce  authorities  are  not  to  exercise 
control  of  a  university  campus ;  that  a  crowd  of  stu- 
dents may  make  themselves  obnoxious  in  a  theater; 
or  that  men,  because  they  are  students,  are  privileged 
in  the  exercise  of  vandaUsm.  Everything  that  would 
encourage  the  student  to  beheve  that  he  is  a  superior 
person,  or  a  person  of  another  caste,  is  a  survival  of 
mediaevaHsm;  and  this  spirit,  many  tell  us,  exists  in 
eastern  colleges,  large  and  small,  to  an  extent  prac- 
tically unknown  in  the  West.  Moreover,  according 
to  mediaeval  custom,  the  members  of  a  faculty  were 
officers  of  state  in  authority  over  the  students.  Be- 
cause of  this  relationship  there  was  always  hostility 
between  faculty  and  student  body.  The  more  mod- 
em idea  makes  the  student  and  the  professor  brothers 
in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge;  the  younger  brother 
guided  by  the  older;  both  students  and  both  of  them 
brothers.  As  a  result  of  this  fraternal  relationship, 
a  degree  of  intimacy  exists  between  professor  and 
student  unknown  in  former  years.  It  is  maintained 
by  many  that  this  close  relationship  of  student  and 
instructor  is  much  more  common  in  the  West  than 
in  the  East.    If  now  these  two  contentions  can  be 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  IN  THE  WEST        143 

made  good,  it  might  surely  be  claimed  that  the  ideas 
which  control  college  life  and  work  in  the  West  are 
more  modem  than  those  which  ordinarily  prevail  in 
the  East.  It  may  seem,  upon  consideration,  that  the 
mediaeval  presents  a  higher  ideal  than  the  modern. 
It  is  quite  certain  that  in  the  points  just  mentioned, 
as  well  as  in  others  which  might  be  presented  by  way 
of  illustration,  the  mediaeval  is  more  attractive  to  the 
student.  It  is  undoubtedly  a  source  of  gratification 
to  feel  that  through  the  college  one  enters  into  the 
privileges  of  a  special  and  higher  caste;  but  this  is 
not  the  modern  democratic  spirit ;  and  however  fully 
the  democratic  spirit  may  be  developed,  as  among  the 
members  of  the  upper  class,  if  that  spirit  is  not  mani- 
fest toward  those  outside  of  the  class,  it  is  a  false 
rather  than  a  true  view  of  democracy  which  prevails. 
Moreover,  in  so  far  as  the  feeling  of  the  student 
body  toward  a  faculty  is  that  of  those  who  are  in 
submission  simply  to  a  higher  authority,  and  an 
authority  which  perhaps  exercises  more  rigid  sur- 
veillance than  is  needful,  reserving  rights  which  or- 
dinarily might  be  assumed  by  the  student  body  itself 
— in  so  far,  I  say,  as  the  body  of  students  acts  upon 
the  assumption  that  any  privilege  wliich  they  might 
secure,  whether  by  fair  means  or  foul,  is  theirs  to 
eiijoy — ^just  to  this  extent  is  the  relationship  one 
which  is  characterized  by  the  unfortunate  and  hurt- 
ful elements  that  once  made  up  what  we  now  call 
*' mediae vahsm" — a  spirit  distinctly  opposed  to  that 
of  modern  progress. 


144      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Still  further,  the  policy  which  prevails  so  largely 
in  the  eastern  college  life  of  placing  men  in  one  insti- 
tution and  women  in  another  is  unquestionably  an 
ancient  and  not  a  modem  policy.  In  this  respect  the 
western  institutions  which  are  prevaihngly  coeduca- 
tional have  made  large  advance  upon  the  East.  If 
anything  in  the  development  of  educational  poUcy 
has  been  worked  out,  it  is  that  the  present  coeduca- 
tional poUcy  of  the  West  is  a  stage  of  development 
higher  and  more  advanced  than  that  stage  which  is 
represented  in  the  East  by  separate  institutions  for 
men  and  for  women.  The  spirit  which  opens  the 
doors  of  every  educational  institution  to  women  as 
well  as  to  men  is,  if  I  may  use  a  questionable  phrase, 
splendidly  modern,  in  contrast  with  the  older  spirit 
of  the  monastery  and  the  convent.  Because  I  beheve 
in  the  principle  of  evolution,  at  all  events  as  appHed 
to  educational  progress,  I  am  convinced  that  there 
is  something  still  higher  in  educational  poHcy  in 
connection  with  this  question  of  coeducation  than 
has  yet  been  reached;  but  the  higher  development 
will  always  include  close  relationship  of  men  and 
women  in  college  Hfe,  and  the  extension  of  equal 
privileges  by  the  same  institution  to  persons  of  both 
sexes.  In  all  this  it  may  surely  be  maintained  that 
the  West  is  more  modern  than  the  East. 

Is  the  spirit  of  the  western  institution  more  natural 
and  less  artificial,  perhaps,  than  that  of  the  eastern 
institution?  It  is  possible  that  this  is  only  putting 
what  I  have  already  said  in  another  form.     Surely 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  IN  THE  WEST        145 

it  is  a  more  natural  view  of  the  situation,  as  well  as 
a  more  modern  view,  that  the  student  is  to  be  treated 
as  any  other  member  of  a  civiHzed  community,  and  / 
accorded  no  special  privileges  because  he  is  a  student./ 
It  may  also  be  claimed  that  the  fraternal  relationship 
between  instructor  and  student  is  more  natural  than 
the  relationship  suggested  by  that  of  strict  officialism. 
It  may  with  equal  force  be  said  that  the  coeducation 
poHcy,  as  thus  far  developed,  is  a  more  natural 
poHcy  and  less  artificial  than  that  of  education  in 
separate  institutions.  But  it  is  possible  to  go  farther, 
and  to  consider  whether  a  more  natural  situation 
may  not  be  found  to  exist  in  at  least  two  other  points. 
The  life  of  the  average  student  in  the  western  col- 
lege is  more  natural,  in  that  it  is  largely  devoid  of 
those  artificial  elements  which  connect  themselves 
with  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money.  It 
is  the  exception,  if  a  student  in  an  institution  west  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  spends  $1,000  a  year. 
It  is  probably  an  exception  when  a  student  in  an 
eastern  institution,  especially  the  larger  institutions, 
spends  a  smaller  sum  than  $800  to  $1,000.  This 
single  fact  is  an  index  of  a  different  kind  of  life. 
It  may  not  be  argued  that  the  eastern  student  in 
spending  more  money  gets  a  larger  return;  for  this 
difference  in  the  amount  expended  represents  the 
gratification  of  acquired  tastes  and  the  formation  of 
artificial  habits  of  Hfe  which  are  injurious  to  the 
extent  in  which  they  are  artificial. 

The  relationship  that  has  hitherto  existed  between 


146      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

institutions  of  college  and  university  grade,  and 
secondary  schools,  including  academies,  appears 
to  be  another  illustration  of  the  acceptance  of  the 
artificial  rather  than  the  natural.  To  lay  emphasis 
upon  the  examination  method  as  a  basis  for  entrance 
to  college,  to  increase  from  time  to  time  the  require- 
ments for  admission,  and  to  hold,  as  has  been  the 
practice  until  more  recent  times,  the  work  of  the 
college  and  the  work  of  the  secondary  school  so  defi- 
nitely apart,  the  one  from  the  other,  is  to  lay  em- 
phasis upon  an  artificial  distinction — a  distinction 
which  has  neither  a  logical  nor  a  pedagogical  basis. 
Happily  the  influence  of  the  West  in  this  particular 
is  already  manifesting  itself  very  plainly  in  eastern 
circles.  Nothing  has  been  more  marked  than  the 
breaking  down  of  the  exclusiveness  of  the  New  Eng- 
land college  and  university.  In  so  far  as  this  exclu- 
siveness still  continues,  a  greater  artificiality  may 
be  claimed  as  existing  in  the  East.  Perhaps  all  this 
may  be  summed  up  in  the  statement  that  the  western 
institution  is  more  democratic  in  the  life  of  its  stu- 
dents, in  its  relation  to  institutions  of  a  lower  grade, 
and  above  all  in  its  relations  to  the  public  at  large. 
This  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  establishment  of  the 
state  universities;  and  the  contribution  of  this  class 
of  institutions  to  the  cause  of  higher  education  has 
been  seen  nowhere  more  clearly  than  in  the  tendency 
which  is  thereby  promoted  toward  the  breaking 
down  of  class  distmctions.  The  influence  of  these 
institutions,  provided  by  the  people  and  supported 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  IN  THE  WEST        147 

directly  by  public  funds,  is  very  pronounced  upon 
institutions  built  on  private  foundations.  The 
establishment  of  a  great  state  university,  like  that 
of  Michigan,  or  Wisconsin,  or  Illinois,  in  the  heart 
of  New  England  would  radically  change  the  develop- 
ment of  higher  education  in  that  region  of  our  coun- 
try. This  larger  democratic  influence  in  the  West 
represents  most  completely  the  proposition  which 
I  have  tried  to  maintain,  that  higher  education  in  its 
various  tendencies  has  shown  less  of  that  which  wen 
may  call  artificial  in  the  West  than  in  the  East. 

This  leads  me  to  suggest  still  a  third  question :  Is 
our  higher  education  in  the  West  more  practical 
than  that  of  the  East  ?  Much  that  I  have  already 
said  might  perhaps  be  included  under  this  question, 
for  that  which  is  more  modern  and  more  natural 
may,  at  the  same  time,  be  thought  more  practical. 
By  ''practical"  I  do  not  mean  utilitarian,  although 
this  side  of  education  must  be  considered  at  its  full 
value.  The  work  of  the  western  student  -is  more 
practical  in  that  he  more  frequently  has  in  mind  a 
definite  purpose — something  distinctly  tangible.  He 
is  aiming  to  accomplish  something.  Few  students 
in  western  institutions  enter  college  simply  because 
it  is  the  fashion  to  take  a  college  course,  or  because 
their  fathers  before  them  have  passed  through  such 
a  course,  or  in  order  to  spend  a  few  years  which  can- 
not easily  be  provided  for  in  some  better  way.  In 
other  words,  the  western  student  is  in  college  because 
he  appreciates  the  fact  that  the  preparation  which 


148      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

it  furnishes  will  improve  his  opportunities  in  life. 
This  does  not  mean  that  he  selects  only  those  sub- 
jects which  bear  upon  the  particular  profession 
which  he  has  chosen,  although  this  may  be  done.  It 
means  rather  that  he  is  working  toward  a  definite 
plan,  controlled  by  a  strong  purpose  to  accomplish 
a  certain  thing;  and,  further,  that,  in  the  large  ma- 
jority of  instances,  this  purpose  is  being  executed  at  a 
sacrifice  either  on  the  part  of  the  student  or  on  the 
part  of  those  who  support  him.  His  point  of  view 
is  different;  and  consequently  a  practical  coloring 
pervades  and  penetrates  his  work.  This  same  point 
is  seen  ii.  another  fact,  that  institutions  in  the  West 
have  rec(  gnized  earlier  and  more  definitely  that  the 
college  training  may  be  secured  through  the  study 
of  matters  which  stand  in  close  touch  with  life,  as 
well  as  through  those  subjects  which  are  more  re- 
motely connected.  The  closer  identification  of 
professional  training  and  college  training  is  one  of 
the  great  tendencies  of  modern  times  which  has  been 
more  plainly  emphasized  in  the  West.  The  point 
I  have  in  mind  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  Harvard 
is  today  only  beginning  to  introduce  courses  of  in- 
struction in  technological  subjects,  and  by  that  other 
fact  which,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  or  more,  has 
seemed  a  sort  of  enigma — the  sharp  line  of  distinc- 
tion which  has  existed  between  Yale  College  and 
the  Sheffield  Scientific  School.  Here  again  the  state 
universities  have  been  leaders;  and  their  pioneer 
work,  which  was  necessarily  practical  because  of 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  IN  THE  WEST        149 

its  close  connection  with  the  hearts  of  the  people,  has 
exercised  in  the  past,  and  is  exercising  in  the  present, 
a  tremendous  influence  upon  higher  education 
throughout  the  country,  in  demonstrating  the  pos- 
sible efficiency  of  a  more  practical  higher  education. 
My  last  qvyestion  grows  out  of  all  the  rest,  and  is 
again  a  summary  of  those  that  have  preceded  it: 
Is  the  student  life  and  the  student  work  of  the  western 
institution  more  serious  than  that  of  the  eastern 
institution?  To  maintain  this  would  perhaps  be 
making  an  unjustifiable  charge  against  the  other 
institutions  from  which  have  come  the  source  of 
our  strength,  for  who  does  not  recognize  the  fact 
that  it  has  been  Harvard  and  Johns  Hopkins  and 
Yale  and  Brown  and  Amherst  and  Williams,  and  a 
score  of  other  names  equally  well  known,  that  have 
given  us  in  the  West  our  ideals  and  our  teachers  ? 
It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  express  a  sentiment 
which  would  in  any  way  reflect  upon  the  past  or  the 
present  greatness  and  efficiency  of  institutions  that 
have  contributed  so  greatly  to  the  prosperity  and 
welfare  of  our  nation.  But  it  is  not  I  who  raise  this 
question.  Within  three  months  seven  college  and 
university  professors  or  presidents  have  in  my  hearing 
asked  it.  Ordinarily  one  might  say  that  the  answer 
must  be  affirmative,  if  what  has  already  been  said 
is  true.  If  western  education  is  more  modern,  more 
natural,  and  more  practical,  it  ought  to  be  more 
serious.  Is  it  true,  as  the  representatives  of  eastern 
institutions  themselves  have  said,  that  in  the  larger, 


ISO      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

and  to  some  extent  in  the  smaller,  colleges  it  has 
ceased  to  be  the  proper  thing,  indeed  the  regular 
thing,  for  men  to  study?  Is  it  true  that  a  change 
has  come  over  eastern  college  life,  and  that  today 
serious  study  on  the  part  of  the  student  is  no  longer 
a  recognized  part  of  college  Uf  e,  or  that  it  is  so  incon- 
siderable a  factor  in  that  life  as  to  occasion  appre- 
hension and  alarm  ?  Is  it  true  that  certain  men  well 
known  in  eastern  circles  have  given  this  question 
very  careful  attention,  and  are  hopmg  for  a  solution^ 
at  least  in  part,  to  come  out  of  the  growing  influence 
of  western  higher  education  upon  the  East?  I 
have  heard  these  questions  asked  and  answered 
affirmatively  by  representative  eastern  educators; 
men  whose  candor  was  surpassed  only  by  the  intense 
anxiety  which  filled  their  souls  upon  this  point. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  East,  no  man  can 
yet  say  that  in  our  western  institutions  through  and 
through  there  does  not  exist  a  spirit  as  serious  as 
any  that  has  characterized  the  student  of  any  age  or 
country;  a  spirit  which  poverty  cannot  repress;  a 
spirit  of  devotion  and  consecration  to  life  and  to 
life's  ideals  than  which  no  higher  has  been  known 
in  history.  I  have  not  suggested  that  this  same 
spirit  is  not  found  in  eastern  institutions.  To  do  so 
would  be  to  belie  the  truth  as  it  is  known  to  all  men. 
I  have  simply  repeated  the  question  which  eastern 
educators  themselves  are  asking,  whether  the  serious 
spirit  does  not  prevail  more  extensively  in  the  western 
institutions  than  in  the  eastern. 


VIII 
THE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  JOHNS  HOPKINS^ 

We  are  celebrating  in  these  days  not  only  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity, the  completion  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  of 
magnificent  work  by  a  great  university;  but  we  are 
celebrating  Hkewise  the  close  of  the  first  period  of 
university  education  in  the  United  States. 

During  this  first  period  the  university  idea  has 
been  introduced  and  established.  Nor  does  the 
time  within  which  this  has  taken  place  date  far  back. 
There  were  no  universities  in  this  country  before 
the  war.  There  were,  in  fact,  no  large  colleges. 
But  within  thirty  years  institutions  have  come  into 
existence  possessing,  not  only  the  name,  but  the 
character,  of  universities;  and  old  institutions  have 
changed,  not  only  their  character,  but  their  names. 
In  other  words,  the  university  idea  has  beyond 
question  established  itself  upon  a  strong  foundation. 

The  first  period  has,  moreover,  seen  the  substan- 
tial beginning  of  a  dififerentiation  between  the  col- 
lege and  the  university.  Some  universities  which 
include  also  college  work  are  drawing  a  sharp  line 
between  the  two.  Some  colleges  are  recognizing  the 
fact  that  their  future  usefulness  depends  upon  their 

I  Read  at  the  celebration  of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary 
of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  February  22,  1903. 

151 


152      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

remaining  colleges,  rather  than  upon  their  making 
an  effort  to  become  universities.  There  are  still  some 
institutions,  however,  in  which  this  distinction  is 
not  appreciated;  that  is,  institutions  in  which  the 
college  work  is  conducted  as  if  it  were  a  kind  of 
university  work,  or  in  which  the  university  work  is 
conducted  as  if  it  were  still  work  of  a  college  charac- 
ter. But  the  separation  is  proceeding  as  rapidly 
as  could  be  expected;  perhaps  even  more  rapidly 
than  could  be  desired;  and  it  is  a  separation  full  of 
significance  for  the  future  of  university  education. 

This  first  period  has  seen,  also,  a  remarkable 
growth  in  the  recognition  given  the  work  of  research 
and  investigation.  The  professor  of  former  times 
had  little  or  no  opportunity  for  any  work  aside 
from  his  teaching.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  in 
most  of  our  institutions  too  much  lecture  work  is 
still  required  of  certain  men  who  have  shown  special 
skill  in  research;  but  how  different  is  the  situation 
today  in  comparison  with  that  of  thirty  years  ago! 
William  Dwight  Whitney,  if  he  were  living  today, 
would  not  be  compelled  to  teach  French  and  Ger- 
man to  engineering  students  in  order  to  eke  out  a 
livelihood.  For  it  has  come  to  be  that  the  spirit  of 
research,  once  hardly  recognized  in  our  higher 
educational  work,  is  now  the  controlling  spirit;  and 
opportunities  for  its  cultivation  wait  on  every  side. 

Again,  this  first  period  has  seen,  in  its  very  last 
days,  tangible  evidence  that  a  new  period,  a  second 
period,  is  being  ushered  in;Jor^what  other  inter- 


CONTRIBUTION  OF  JOHNS  HOPKINS       153 

pretation  than  this  may  be  suggested  for  the  remark- 
able things  that  have  recently  taken  place  ?  With  the 
many  milUons  of  dollars  given  directly  for  research 
and  higher  education;  with  the  new  foundations 
which  have  recently  come  into  being  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  on  the  Pacific 
coast;  with  the  results  already  obtained  in  the  sev- 
eral departments  of  research  and  investigation  by 
university  men  whose  names  have  become  famous 
for  the  work  they  have  accomplished;  with  the 
maturity  that  comes  from  many  years  devoted  to 
the  highest  educational  ideals,  as  witnessed  by  the 
splendid  history  of  this  university,  surely  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  in  the  East,  in  the  West,  and 
in  the  Far  West  we  are  preparing  to  enter  upon  a 
new  .period  in  the  development  of  university  edu- 
cation. 

That  this  is  a  common  belief  is  shown,  it  seems 
to  me,  by  the  fact  that  within  two  years  the  leading 
universities  in  the  country — fourteen  in  number — 
have  joined  themselves  as  institutions  in  an  asso- 
ciation for  the  study  and  consideration  of  problems 
which  concern  university  as  distinguished  from 
college  work.  If  one  had  time  and  ability  to  per- 
form the  task  acceptably,  it  would  be  interesting  to 
consider  in  a  prophetic  way  what  this  new  period 
upon  which  we  now  enter  will  produce.  Perhaps  I 
may  be  allowed  a  conjecture  or  two. 

This  period  will  see  a  still  greater  development. 
Up  to  this  time  we  have  known  what  could  be  done 


154      THE  TREND  EST  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

by  a  university  with  an  annual  expenditure  of  about 
$1,000,000.  In  this  next  period  there  will  be  insti- 
tutions which  will  have  annually  $10,000,000  or  so 
with  which  to  conduct  a  year's  work.  This  will 
mean,  not  merely  growth,  but,  in  large  measure, 
reorganization;  at  all  events,  organization  on  new 
lines. 

We  shall,  moreover,  see  a  still  greater  differentia- 

^         tion.     The  higher  work  of  the  university  will  be 

/       separated  more  clearly  from  the  lower  work  of  the 

/         college;  many  colleges  will  undertake  to  do  work  of 

/  a   more   distinctively   college   character   than   that 

I  which  they  are  now  doing;  and  many  high  schools 

will  rise  to  the  grade  and  dignity  of  colleges.     And, 

further  than   this,   institutions   will   distribute   the 

work  of  higher  education,  some  undertaking  work 

in  one  group  of  departments,  while  others  do  work 

j  in   another   group.     Only   a   few   institutions   will 

\  endeavor  to  cover  the  entire  ground.    The  principle 

of  specialization  will  be  applied  to  institutions. 

In  this  new  period  the  United  States  also  will 
receive  proper  recognition  for  its  university  work, 
and  though  American  students,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
will  always  find  it  advantageous  to  visit  Europe,  th^ 
time  is  near  at  hand  when  the  students  of  European 
countries  will  take  up  residence  in  our  American 
universities. 

Furthermore,  there  will  be  an  intermingling  of 
university  work  and  university  ideals  in  all  the 
various  activities  of  our  national  Hfe — in  the  business 


CONTRIBUTION  OF  JOHNS  HOPKINS       155 

world,  in  the  political  world,  and  in  the  literary 
world.  The  old  idea  of  separation  from  the  world 
at  large  is  fast  disappearing,  and  the  new  day  has 
already  dawned  in  which  the  university  is  to  do 
notable  work  in  fields  hitherto  almost  unknown, 
and  by  methods  hitherto  almost  untried. 

In  the  changes  which  have  come  about  in  thirty 
years,  the  Johns  Hopkins  university  has  been  the 
principal  factor.  The  ideals  of  its  founders,  the 
contributions  of  its  professors,  and  the  work  of  its- 
alumni  have  constituted  the  principal  agency  in 
bringing  about  this  wonderful  growth. 

During  this  first  period  the  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity has  been  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the 
American  university  world,  and  to  its  achievements 
we  are  largely  indebted  for  the  fact  that  we  may  now 
enter  upon  a  higher  mission.  I  desire  to  present 
upon  this  occasion  the  greetings  and  the  congratula- 
tion of  the  scores  of  institutions  in  the  West  and  Far 
West  which  have  been  strengthened  by  the  presence 
in  their  faculties  of  Johns  Hopkins  men,  and  have 
been  encouraged  and  stimulated  to  higher  work  by 
the  influence  of  Johns  Hopkins  ideals. 


DC 

THE  URBAN  UNIVERSITY^ 

Institutions  of  every  kind  sooner  or  later 
adjust  themselves  to  the  forward  movement  of 
civilization.  This  is  particularly  true  of  educational 
institutions,  and  among  these  such  adaptation  is 
especially  to  be  noted  in  institutions  of  a  higher 
grade.  The  history  of  higher  education  in  the 
United  States,  from  the  year  in  which  Harvard 
was  founded  to  the  present  time,  is,  in  fact,  the 
history  of  the  growth  and  development  of  American 
civilization.  Each  type  of  institution — ^for  example, 
the  New  England  college  as  it  existed  a  hundred 
or  more  years  ago  in  New  England,  and  exists 
today  scattered  all  through  the  western  states; 
or  the  state  university  which,  in  its  proper  form 
may  be  said  to  be  the  product  of  the  last  half-century; 
or  the  school  of  technology,  in  most  recent  years 
taking  its  place  side  by  side  with,  or  as  a  part  of 
the  university;  or  the  university  in  the  stricter  sense, 
which  is  the  product  of  the  last  two  decades — each 
type  of  institution,  I  say,  represents  a  phase  of 
growth,  or  a  stage  of  growth,  in  the  life  of  the  nation. 
It  is  the  very  latest  phase  of  institutional  develop- 
ment that  is  illustrated  by  the  growth  and  character 

I  Address  at  the  inauguration  of  Professor  Nicholas  Murray 
Butler  as  president  of  Columbia  University,  April  19,  1902. 

156 


THE  URBAN  UNIVERSITY  157 

of  the  university  whose  guests  we  are  this  afternoon. 

The  trend  of  Hfe  in  these  last  years  seems  to  be 
toward  that  centraHzation  which  finds  its  most 
tangible  expression  in  the  growth  of  great  cities. 
That  same  tendency  has  shown  itself  in  many  of 
the  activities  which  make  up  life,  as  well  as  in  those 
things  which  relate  to  the  places  of  hving.  Many 
have  represented  this  as  the  most  distinctive  move- 
ment of  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. 

Everything  points  to  an  intensification  of  this 
movement  rather  than  to  its  diminution.  The  city 
of  a  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  fifty  years  ago 
is  the  city  of  a  million  today.  What  the  city  of  a 
million  today  will  be  fifty  years  hence  no  man  can 
prophesy.  In  connection  with  this  massing  together 
of  human  souls,  much  is  to  be  deprecated,  and  much 
of  the  good  in  life  is  lost;  yet  it  is  also  true  that  by 
this  concentration  of  human  effort,  and  the  intense 
competition  thereby  provoked,  the  world  as  a  whole 
will  be  the  gainer  rather  than  the  loser. 

Just  as  in  this  way  great  multitudes  of  people 
are  brought  together  in  the  various  interrelation- 
ships of  common  life,  so  there  are  coming  to  exist  \ 
types  of  educational  institutions,  lower  and  higher,    j 
adapted    to   this   new   environment.    The   public-    \ 
school  system  of  a  city  of  two  or  three  miUions  of 
inhabitants  is  an  entirely  different  system  from  that 
which  is  adapted  to  the  needs  of  a  city  of  fifty  or 
one  hundred  thousand  people;   and  in  our  great 
modem  cities  there  is  today  being  wrought  out  a 


158      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

kind  of  school  work  as  different  from  that  of  even 
fifty  years  ago  as  the  methods  of  transportation  and 
communication  today  are  different  from  those  of 
the  same  period. 

It  is  just  so  with  higher  education.  A  university 
which  will  adapt  itself  to  urban  influence,  which 
will  undertake  to  serve  as  an  expression  of  urban 
civiHzation,  and  which  is  compelled  to  meet  the 
demands  of  an  urban  environment,  will  in  the  end 
become  something  essentially  different  from  a 
university  located  in  a  village  or  small  city.  Such 
an  institution  will  in  time  differentiate  itself  from 
other  institutions.  It  will  gradually  take  on  new 
characteristics  both  outward  and  inward,  and  it 
will  ultimately  form  a  new  type  of  university. 

The  urban  universities  found  today  in  three  or 
four  of  the  largest  cities  in  this  country,  and  the 
urban  universities  which  exist  in  three  or  four 
of  the  great  European  centers,  form  a  class  by  them- 
selves, inasmuch  as  they  are  compelled  to  deal  with 
problems  which  are  not  involved  in  the  work  of 
universities  located  in  smaller  cities.  These  prob- 
lems are  connected  with  the  life  of  the  students;  the 
care  of  thousands  of  the  students,  instead  of  hun- 
dreds; the  management  of  millions  instead  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars ;  the  distribution  of  a  staff  of  officers 
made  up  of  hundreds  instead  of  tens.  Not  only  do 
new  problems  present  themselves,  but  many  of  the 
old  problems  assume  entirely  different  forms.  The 
question,  for  example,  of  coeducation  is  one  thing 


THE  URBAN  UNIVERSITY  159 

if  considered  from  the  point  of  view  of  an  institu- 
tion located  in  a  village  and  having  two  hundred 
or  three  hundred  students.  It  is,  of  course,  a  different 
thing  in  an  institution  having  a  thousand  students 
and  located  in  a  small  city;  but  it  is  a  problem  of 
still  another  kind  when  the  institution  has  three  or 
four  thousand  students  and  is  in  the  heart  of  a  city 
of  one  or  two  milHons  of  people.  The  standards 
of  life  are  different,  and  the  methods  of  life  are  greatly 
modified.  And  what  is  true  of  this  problem  is  true 
of  a  score  or  more. 

In  so  far,  then,  as  an  institution  is  intended 
to  represent  the  Hfe  of  those  about  it,  their  ideals, 
and  their  common  thought,  the  task  before  an  urban 
university  is  something  as  new  and  strange  and 
compHcated  as  is  the  life,  poHtical  and  individual, 
of  these  same  cities;  and  just  as  the  great  cities  of 
the  country  represent  the  national  life  in  its  fulness 
and  in  its  variety,  so  the  urban  universities  are  in 
the  truest  sense,  as  has  frequently  been  noted, 
national  universities. 

It  is  such  an  institution,  with  all  its  complexities 
and  possibilities,  its  problems  and  its  ideals,  within 
whose  walls  we  meet  today.  The  occasion  of  this 
meeting  is  a  solemn  one.  It  might  almost  be  called 
an  event  of  sacred  significance,  since  it  concerns 
the  formal  initiation  and  installation  into  office  of 
one  to  whom  is  thereby  committed  a  responsibihty 
as  sacred  and  as  solemn  as  any  that  can  be  assumed 
by  a  human  being. 


i6o      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Today  I  am  bringing  to  you  the  greetings  of  a 
sister  urban  university,  the  University  of  Chicago. 
The  problems  to  be  worked  out  by  Columbia  are, 
in  large  measure,  those  with  which  the  University 
of  Chicago  is  concerned.  It  is  perhaps  not  too  much 
to  expect  that  in  many  questions  the  experience  of 
one  institution  will  be  helpful  to  that  of  the  other. 
It  is  possible,  further,  that  the  experience  of  these 
institutions  may  be  of  service  to  others  interested 
in  the  same  questions. 

To  the  new  president,  Mr.  Butler,  and  to  Colum- 
bia University  under  his  administration,  we  present 
our  best  wishes  for  the  future.  May  Columbia 
University  ever  prove  worthy  of  the  name  she 
bears,  the  history  she  has  already  achieved,  and  the 
splendid  city  of  which  she  is  the  greatest  institution. 


X 

THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY 

The  business  side  of  an  educational  institution 
is  the  financial  side  as  distinguished  from  the  edu- 
cational. It  is  difficult,  perhaps  impossible,  to  draw 
a  sharp  line  between  the  financial  and  the  educational, 
for  here  is  no  part  of  the  university  life  or  work  into 
which  financial  questions  do  not  enter.  It  is  clearly 
unfortunate,  from  some  points  of  view,  that  the  two 
are  so  closely  associated.  One's  ideal  would  be 
better  realized  if  the  spiritual  could  be  more  definitely 
distinguished  from  the  material.  In  recent  years 
the  material  side  of  university  work  has  possibly 
received  more  than  its  due  share  of  attention;  but 
it  should  be  noted  that  within  this  same  period  even 
greater  attention  has  been  given  to  the  development 
of  the  educational  side,  and  that  what  some  have 
regarded  as  unfortunate  is  after  all  the  best  thing 
that  could  have  happened.  Two  facts  in  such  a 
discussion  as  this  deserve  consideration:  first,  that 
thirty  years  ago  there  were  in  this  country  no  great 
universities;  the  second,  that  a  great  university  can- 
not be  conducted  except  upon  a  business  basis  and 
with  large  funds  for  expenditure.  This  larger 
attention  to  the  material  side,  inconsistent  as  it 
may  seem  to  be  with  the  due  appreciation  of  the 
spiritual  element,  is  nevertheless  a  necessity,  growing 

i6i 


i62      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

out  of  the  present  condition  of  things.  Thus  a 
large  part  of  the  expenditures  of  a  modern  institu- 
tion is  incurred  in  the  departments  of  science, 
many  of  which  did  not  exist  thirty  years  ago;  for  it 
is  within  comparatively  recent  times  that  it  has 
seemed  necessary  to  have  natural  science  fully 
represented  in  an  institution  of  learning.  This  is 
true  also  of  the  historical  departments,  for  chairs 
of  political  economy,  pohtical  science,  and  sociology 
are  comparatively  modern.  Nor  is  it  a  long  time 
ago,  even  in  some  of  our  largest  institutions,  that 
the  Romance  and  Germanic  languages,  not  to  speak 
of  EngHsh,  were  given  a  proper  status.  The  larger 
expenditure  has  been  occasioned,  furthermore,  by 
the  introduction  of  modern  methods.  The  labora- 
tory method  in  the  departments  of  science,  and  the 
library  method  in  the  departments  concerned  with 
literature  and  history,  have  revolutionized  college 
and  university  work;  but  the  revolution  has  been 
attended  with  great  cost. 

The  increased  expenditure  in  universities  has 
also  come  about  because  of  the  demand  for  better 
arrangements  in  connection  with  student  and  pro- 
fessorial hfe.  The  student  of  1901  will  not  endure 
the  economies  practiced  by  the  student  of  1801. 
The  professor,  moreover,  is  an  entirely  different 
being — no  longer  a  recluse,  but  a  man  among  men 
mingling  in  the  life  of  the  world,  and  for  that  reason 
compelled  to  live  in  a  fashion  utterly  unknown  to 
his  colleagues  of  a  century  ago.     If,  therefore,  the 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      163 

financial  side  of  a  university  in  these  times  is  some- 
thing vastly  more  important  than  it  was  a  century 
ago,  the  fact  is  easily  explained,  and  does  not  in  any 
sense  convey  the  implication  that  the  university  of 
today  is  less  spiritual,  less  intellectual.  These 
great  sums  of  money  must  be  secured  with  which 
to  conduct  an  institution,  because  it  is  today  a 
university  rather  than  a  college;  because  its  work 
is  of  a  vastly  higher  character  than  anything  con- 
ceived in  former  years;  because  there  exist  today 
ten  departments  or  sub-departments  where  a  half- 
century  ago  a  single  department  sufficed;  because 
the  work  is  infinitely  higher,  broader,  and  deeper. 
The  average  college  today  spends  more  for  work  in 
a  single  department  of  science  than  was  spent  by 
an  institution  of  the  same  grade  fifty  years  ago  in 
all  departments  of  science.  In  institutions  which 
had  no  Hbraries  at  that  time,  there  will  now  be  found 
Hbraries  of  thirty  to  fifty  thousand  volumes.  The 
university  of  the  twentieth  century  is  compelled  to 
spend  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  where  the  insti- 
tution of  the  nineteenth  century  spent  ten  thousand. 
This  being  true,  the  financial  side  of  an  institu- 
tion must  be  organized  as  carefully  and  as  method- 
ically as  its  educational  side;  and  the  question 
arises:  What  does  the  financial  side  include,  and 
what  is  involved  in  its  conduct  ?  A  consideration 
of  this  question  will  show  the  particular  sides  of 
university  work  and  life  which  are  affected  by  the 
financial  problems,  the  various  elements  which  are 


i64      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

involved  in  the  preparation  of  a  university  budget, 
the  agencies  established  by  the  university  to  conduct 
and  manage  its  financial  matters,  and  the  principles 
which  underHe  the  conduct  of  this  financial  work. 
The  university  in  its  financial  dealings  comes 
into  contact  with  all  the  world,  and  with  every  class 
of  people  who  make  up  the  world.  The  student 
has  business  relations  with  the  university  in  the  pay- 
ment of  his  fees.  These  are  in  most  instances 
adapted  to  the  particular  work  in  which  he  is  engaged, 
and  vary  with  the  amount  and  character  of  that 
work.  There  is  the  examination  fee,  covering  the 
expenses  connected  with  examination  for  admission; 
the  matriculation  fee,  paid  once  for  all  upon  admis- 
sion; the  tuition,  library,  and  incidental  fees,  paid 
quarterly  or  for  each  semester;  the  laboratory  fee 
in  connection  with  physics  or  chemistry  or  a  depart- 
ment of  biology ;  the  library  fine,  if  perchance  a  book 
has  been  retained  longer  than  the  rules  permit;  the 
special  fee  for  extra  courses,  or  perhaps  for  an 
examination  taken  at  some  time  other  than  that 
regularly  appointed,  or  taken  perhaps  because  in  a 
former  examination  the  result  was  not  satisfactory; 
the  special  fee  imposed,  if  after  once  selecting  his 
courses  he  wishes,  for  reasons  of  his  own,  to  change 
the  registration,  this  fee  being  imposed  not  so  much 
to  recompense  the  institution  for  the  extra  clerical 
work  involved,  as  to  impress  upon  the  student  the 
necessity  of  reaching  a  definite  decision  and  of  then 
adhering  to  it.     Besides  these  ordinary  university 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      165 

fees,  if  the  student  occupies  a  room  in  a  university 
hall  or  lives  at  the  university  commons,  there  are 
room  bills  and  board  bills,  each  one  of  which  must 
be  adapted  to  the  individual  case,  for  rooms  have 
different  values  placed  upon  them,  and  the  board 
bill  must  be  adjusted  to  the  number  of  days  during 
which  meals  are  taken.  In  many  institutions  the 
university  conducts  a  bank  for  the  accommodation 
of  students,  receiving  deposits  and  making  payments 
on  demand,  exactly  as  in  a  well-regulated  bank. 
Probably  one  in  four  of  all  the  students  in  an  insti- 
tution of  learning  has  financial  deahngs  with  the 
university  in  the  way  of  scholarships  and  fellowships, 
or  in  the  way  of  money  received  in  return  for  serv- 
ices of  some  kind.  One  well-known  institution 
distributes  each  year,  in  amounts  ranging  from  $100 
to  $600,  the  sum  of  $100,000.  And,  finally,  when 
the  student  finishes  his  work,  a  graduation  fee  is 
collected.  In  part  to  educate  the  student  in  business 
methods,  and  also  in  part  as  security  for  bills  payable, 
it  is  an  inflexible  law  of  institutions  of  learning  to 
grant  no  certificate  or  degree  to  a  student  who  is  in 
arrears  in  the  payment  of  his  obligations. 

To  this  there  should  be  added  further  the  business 
element  involved  in  providing  work  inside  and  out- 
side of  the  institution  for  needy  students — a  task  in 
some  instances  assumed  by  an  allied  agency  inde- 
pendent of  the  institution,  in  others  undertaken  by 
the  university  itself.  The  amount  of  business  in- 
volved in  dealings  along  these  various  lines  with 


i66      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

three  or  four  thousand  students  is  not  inconsider- 
able. 

Each  member  of  the  teaching  staff,  like  each 
student,  has  regular  business  relations  with  the 
institution.  The  preparation  of  the  monthly  pay- 
roll is  an  important  piece  of  business,  including  as 
it  does  not  only  the  regular  members  of  the  staff, 
but  also  the  fellows  and  scholars  of  the  university, 
and  the  employees.  There  are  university  pay-rolls 
which  include  more  than  five  hundred  names. 
Nor  is  the  conduct  of  the  pay-roll  the  simple  and 
regular  task  which  it  at  first  might  appear.  Changes 
are  continually  taking  place;  men  come  and  go; 
promotions  are  made,  and  in  many  cases  special 
accommodation  must  be  given.  And  in  these  days 
a  very  considerable  proportion  of  the  staff  of  a  uni- 
versity spends  a  portion  of  the  year  abroad.  In 
each  case  a  special  arrangement  is  made  for  the  trans- 
fer of  money,  and  at  one  time  the  university  may  be 
dealing  with  its  officers  in  ten  or  twelve  foreign 
countries.  The  question  of  promotion  on  the  staff 
is  frequently  a  simple  business  matter;  for  mani- 
festly a  promotion  which  carries  with  it  increase  of 
salary  cannot  be  made  unless  there  are  funds  with 
which  to  meet  the  additional  expense;  and,  more- 
over, it  is  a  business  question  as  well  as  an  educa- 
tional question  to  determine  to  what  extent  this  or 
that  department  shall  be  developed  in  view  of  the 
resources  of  the  institution.  In  many  instances  the 
university  serves  as  landlord  to  some  members  of 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      167 

its  staff,  and  in  a  few  cases  (the  fewer  the  better) 
it  encourages  the  members  of  its  staff  to  build  per- 
manent homes  by  lending  to  them  on  proper  security 
university  funds. 

At  times  an  officer  of  the  institution  becomes  dis- 
abled, or  is  taken  away  without  having  made  proper 
provision  for  his  family.  The  relationship  of  the 
university  is  of  such  a  character  that  in  each  case 
some  financial  arrangement  must  be  effected.  In 
some  institutions  a  pension  system  has  been  estab- 
lished which  in  a  more  businesslike  way  makes 
proper  provision  for  those  to  whom  the  university 
is  under  obligation.  Such  a  pension  system,  from 
the  business  point  of  view  as  well  as  from  the  phil- 
anthropic, would  seem  to  be  an  absolute  necessity 
in  every  institution  that  pretends  to  manage  its 
affairs  upon  a  business  basis. 

A  large  university  needs,  also,  a  considerable 
body  of  business  officers  and  employees  who  are  not 
directly  associated  with  the  educational  work.  Here 
belong  the  business  manager,  the  auditor,  and  the 
registrar,  or  bursar.  It  is  these  who  have  to  do 
directly  with  the  fiscal  interests.  Each  of  these 
officers  is  aided  by  a  force  of  stenographers  and 
clerks.  There  is  also  the  general  stenographic  and 
clerical  force  of  the  university  distributed  in  the 
offices  of  the  president,  the  various  deans  and 
directors,  the  pubhcation  department,  the  university 
bookstore,  the*  extension  work,  and  the  library.  It 
is  true  that  until  three  or  four  years  ago  a  certain 


i68      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

university  of  high  rank  did  not  have  a  single  ste- 
nographer in  its  employ.  It  is  probable,  however, 
that  in  a  well-regulated  institution  the  service  in  this 
particular  will  always  be  increasing,  since  experi- 
ence proves  that  it  is  economy  to  furnish  as  much 
assistance  of  this  kind  as  can  be  well  used.  The 
superintendent  of  buildings  is  aided  by  a  force  of 
engineers  and  janitors.  If  the  university  build- 
ings are  all  situated  in  one  place,  it  is  posssible  to 
exercise  great  economy  by  establishing  a  central 
building  and  equipment  for  supplying  heat  and 
light,  but  even  at  the  best  the  undertaking  is  a 
large  one  and  requires  careful  business  manage- 
ment. 

Perhaps  the  most  difficult  piece  of  business  in 
the  entire  university  administration  is  that  relating 
to  the  university's  function  as  landlord.  The  modern 
university  is  in  a  true  sense  a  great  hotel,  managed 
on  the  European  as  well  as  on  the  American  plan. 
Men  generally  adopt  the  European,  and  women 
the  American  plan.  In  some  cases  this  work  is 
conducted  only  indirectly  as  a  part  of  the  university 
administration ;  but  in  every  case  the  general  responsi- 
bihty  rests  with  the  institution.  In  these  days  it  is 
considered  no  small  business  task  to  handle  the 
affairs  of  a  hotel  capable  of  accommodating  three 
or  five  hundred  guests.  What  shall  be  said  of  the 
task,  when  this  number  becomes  one  thousand,  or 
fifteen  hundred,  or  even  twenty-five  hundred?  It 
is  in  this  connection  that  the  business  ability  of  the 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      169 

administration  finds  itself  most  severely  taxed,  and  the 
housekeepers,  janitors,  cooks,  servants,  and  watch- 
men constitute,  in  fact,  almost  a  regiment  of  employ- 
ees, for  whose  board  and  lodging  provision  must 
also  be  made.  It  is  impossible  in  a  large  institu- 
tion to  leave  the  matter  of  board  and  food  to  take 
care  of  itself.  Experience  has  shown  that  under 
these  circumstances  the  student  invariably  suffers. 
There  must  be  mentioned  also  the  staff  of  the 
bureau  of  information — something  necessary  in  a 
large  institution;  the  telegraph  and  telephone  service; 
the  express  office ;  the  faculty  exchange ;  and,  besides, 
the  constantly  increasing  staff  of  student  service, 
that  is,  students  who  do  work  for  the  university  in 
various  offices  and  departments,  thereby  earning  a 
portion  of  the  university  fees.  Through  the  bureau 
of  student  help  a  university  may  secure  thousands 
of  dollars  in  outside  work  for  worthy  and  needy 
students.  The  large  institution,  Hke  the  large 
business  house,  finds  it  necessary  to  employ  its  own 
force  of  compositors,  even  when  the  university  does 
not  engage  in  the  publication  of  journals,  for  the 
amount  of  job-printing  of  all  kinds  required  daily, 
and  the  various  university  documents  constantly 
in  demand,  make  it  economical  for  the  university 
thus  to  control  its  own  force.  If  now  the  university, 
as  in  some  cases,  undertakes  the  publication  of 
journals,  the  staff  of  compositors  becomes  a  large  one 
and  carries  in  its  train  a  force  of  proofreaders,  and, 
in  some  cases,  of  pressmen  and  binders.    In  many 


I70      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

cases  the  university  library  finds  itself  justified  in 
establishing  and  conducting  a  bindery  for  its  own 
service.  In  connection  with  the  distribution  of 
university  documents,  there  must  be,  of  course,  a 
regularly  established  mailing  department,  and  in 
connection  with  the  care  of  buildings  and  grounds, 
it  is  wise  for  the  university  to  have  its  own  carpenter, 
plumber,  and  electrician.  This  list  does  not,  of 
course,  include  the  artists,  photographers,  and  arti- 
sans employed  directly  in  the  various  departments 
of  sciences  in  connection  with  the  educational  work. 
The  university  must  have  or  control  also  a  univer- 
sity bookstore,  which  is  managed  in  the  interests 
of  professors  and  students,  and  not  for  the  purpose 
of  making  money.  The  annual  business  of  such  a 
store  will  sometimes  amount  to  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars.  And,  besides  this,  there  will  be  the 
storehouses  for  chemistry,  physics,  and  the  biological 
departments,  with  storekeepers  and  purchasing 
agent.  Through  the  bookstore,  the  Hbrary,  and 
the  scientific  storeroom,  the  university  is  all  the  time 
in  business  relations  with  publishers,  importers, 
manufacturers,  and  custom-house  officers.  It  is 
well  known  that  special  laws  exist  for  the  importa- 
tion by  universities  of  books  and  apparatus.  The 
library  in  its  work  directly  or  indirectly  has  business 
agents  in  all  the  principal  book  centers  of  the  Old 
World,  and  ordinarily  its  importations  and  pur- 
chases are  collected  from  various  quarters  and  for- 
warded monthy  to  the  institution. 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      171 

A  growing  institution  is  always  building.  And 
here  the  business  side  of  the  university  clearly  mani- 
fests itseK.  In  the  work  of  building  a  new  field  of 
business  is  entered,  and  the  university  comes  into 
relations  with  architects  and  contractors.  The 
university  may  have  a  single  architect  to  whom 
recourse  is  had  under  all  circumstances,  or  it  may 
select  different  architects  for  different  buildings. 
The  building  committee  of  the  university  has  always 
under  consideration  the  subject  of  material,  form, 
style,  and  practical  utility  of  the  buildings  that  are 
to  be  erected  in  the  near  future.  It  is  a  matter  of 
experience  that  a  building  needed  by  the  university 
is  most  easily  secured,  if  the  plans  for  it  are  prepared 
in  advance.  The  drawings  sometimes  excite  the 
interest  of  a  patron  to  whom  they  may  be  presented. 
It  is  therefore  unnecessary,  and  indeed  unusual,  to 
wait  for  the  gift  of  a  building  before  doing  the  pre- 
liminary work  involved  in  the  plans  and  specifica- 
tions. It  is  almost  inconceivable  in  the  large  institu- 
tion that  there  should  ever  come  a  time  when  addi- 
tional buildings  will  not  be  called  for.  The  building 
committee  is  as  necessary  a  part  of  the  university 
administration  as  the  committee  on  faculty  and 
equipment;  for  if  an  institution  is  to  continue  its 
work,  it  must  add  to  its  facilities.  The  business 
manager  of  an  institution  is  therefore  selected,  at 
least  in  part,  with  reference  to  his  familiarity  with 
the  work  of  building.  It  is  perhaps  to  be  noted 
that  many  of  our  American  institutions  have  not  con- 


f  OF  THE     "^^X 

f    UNIVERSITV 


172    |THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

ducted  this  part  of  the  university  business  with  much 
care  or  forethought.  It  is  unfortunate,  to  say  the 
least,  that  in  America  university  architecture  has 
been  so  commonly  neglected.  This  is  perhaps  only 
less  criminal  than  a  shortcoming  in  reference  to  the 
handling  of  investments,  since  in  the  latter  particular 
mistakes  may  be  corrected,  while  in  the  former  case 
this  is  impossible. 

A  large  university  usually  has  business  dealings 
with  the  public  at  large.  These  for  the  most  part 
appear  in  connection  with  the  work  of  a  university 
press.  For  it  has  come  to  be  true  that  in  one  form 
or  another  every  large  institution  has  its  own  univer- 
sity press.  This  press  may  be  directly  under  the 
control  of  some  publishing  house,  the  university 
being  in  this  case  only  indirectly  connected  with 
the  business  side;  or  the  press  may  be  associated 
with  a  large  publishing  house,  the  university  in 
this  case  sharing  in  the  business  deaHngs;  or  the 
university  may  undertake  for  itself  the  organization 
and  management  of  its  own  press.  On  the  whole, 
the  latter  plan  has  seemed  to  be  the  most  successful. 
Such  organization  calls  for  every  phase  of  business 
activity  which  is  involved  in  the  work  of  manufac- 
turing and  distributing  books  and  journals.  As 
has  been  said,  it  is  a  matter  of  business  economy 
for  the  university  to  have  its  own  composing-rooms 
and  to  do  to  some  extent  its  own  press- work.  This 
makes  necessary  an  organization  with  a  director, 
superintendent,    foreman,    pressmen,    compositors, 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      173 

and  proofreaders,  and  involves  the  work  of  selecting 
and  purchasing  type,  presses,  paper,  and  all  the 
additional  material  and  equipment  required  for 
book-making.  But  shall  the  office  be  a  union  or  a 
non-union  office  ?  Shall  it  employ  women  as  well 
as  men?  What  shall  be  the  relationship  of  the 
university  in  this  phase  of  its  activity  to  the  prob- 
lems which  are  all  the  while  arising  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  interests  of  labor  ?  This  work  involves, 
moreover,  distribution  as  well  as  manufacture;  and 
thus  the  university  enters  one  of  the  most  interesting 
fields  of  business  known  to  the  modern  world, 
including  its  relationship  to  the  post-office  authorities, 
its  agencies  established  in  great  centers,  its  connec- 
tion with  booksellers,  and  its  contact  in  its  adver- 
tising departments  with  the  business  world  at  large. 
If  the  advertising  field  is  to  be  cultivated  success- 
fully, there  must  be  representatives  in  the  East  and 
the  West  whose  only  work  shall  be  to  fill  the  pages 
set  apart  for  advertising. 

The  university  deals  with  the  public  in  a  business 
way,  also,  through  that  department  of  its  work 
which  has  in  some  instances  been  designated  the 
extension  division.  In  this  work  it  enters  the  busi- 
ness field  of  the  lecture  bureau  on  a  plan  intended 
to  be  higher  than  that  occupied  by  the  ordinary 
lecture  bureau.  The  business  side  of  the  extension 
work  includes  the  selection  of  agents,  the  organiza- 
tion of  committees,  the  renting  of  halls,  the  proper 
distribution  of  announcements,  the  selling  of  tickets. 


174      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

the  contracts  with  lecturers,  negotiations  with  socie- 
ties, churches,  clubs,  the  arrangement  of  railroad 
schedules,  the  procuring  of  hotel  accommodations, 
the  transportation  of  traveUng  libraries  and  the 
distribution  of  the  same  at  the  local  centers,  the 
publication  and  sale  of  syllabi  of  lectures,  etc.,  etc. 
A  single  organization  conducting  on  these  lines  a 
business  which  amounts  to  fifty  or  seventy-five  or 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  a  single  year  must 
adopt  business  principles  in  its  work,  if  it  is  to  be 
successful  or  permanent,  and  if,  because  of  the  lack 
of  special  endowment  funds,  the  extension  work  is 
expected  to  be  in  large  measure  self-supporting,  the 
business  side  becomes  all  the  more  definite  and 
distinct. 

The  university,  again,  deals  with  the  general 
public  through  its  bureau  of  recommendations. 
A  large  institution  will  receive  daily  requests  to  make 
a  recommendation  for  this  or  that  position.  These 
requests,  by  correspondence  or  in  person,  come  from 
business  men  who  wish  clerks,  agents,  etc.;  from 
superintendents  of  schools  who  wish  principals  or 
teachers;  officers  of  the  federal,  state,  or  municipal 
government ;  from  parents  who  wish  tutors  or  travel- 
ing companions  for  their  children;  from  publishers 
who  wish  agents;  from  churches  who  wish  pastors; 
from  newspapers  wishing  reporters  or  editorial 
writers ;  from  lawyers  who  wish  clerks ;  from  boards  of 
libraries  asking  for  librarians ;  from  college  and  uni- 
versity authorities  asking  for  recommendations  for 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      175 

presidents  and  professors.  These  requests  must  be 
answered,  selections  made,  and  testimonials  fur- 
nished. It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  a  large 
university  thus  to  place  in  positions  directly  or  in- 
directly hundreds  of  men  and  women  in  a  single 
year.  This  is  largely  a  business  question,  involving 
the  educational  quahfications  of  the  persons  recom- 
mended, and  carrying  with  it  also  a  large  responsi- 
bility on  the  part  of  the  university.  Closely  asso- 
ciated with  this  is  the  task  undertaken  by  many 
institutions  of  finding  work  which  may  be  performed 
by  students  while  in  residence,  and  from  which  they 
may  secure  at  least  a  portion  of  the  means  necessary 
for  their  maintenance.  Such  work  includes  clerking 
in  stores,  bookkeeping,  typewriting  and  stenog- 
raphy, pubHc-library  work,  selling  railway  tickets,  can- 
vassing for  city  telephones,  soHciting  advertisements, 
collecting  accounts,  dehvering  newspapers,  acting  as 
laundry  agents,  Hghting  street  lamps,  doing  house- 
work, waiting  on  tables,  tutoring,  and  teaching  in 
night  schools.  In  these  various  ways  many  thousands 
of  dollars  are  secured  annually  by  energetic  students. 
The  university  comes  into  contact  with  the  pubHc, 
furthermore,  in  its  department  of  physical  culture 
and  athletics.  In  recent  years  it  has  come  to  be 
seen  that  this  work  must  be  handled  directly  by  the 
university  and  not  be  left  entirely  to  the  students. 
Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  increased  emphasis 
laid  upon  athletic  contests,  it  will  be  conceded  that, 
in  the  management  of  these  contests  a  business  ability 


176      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  high  order  is  required;  for  there  are  included  the 
maintenance  of  athletic  grounds  valued  at  several 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  with  full  equipment  of 
grandstands,  seats,  racing-track,  baseball  and  foot- 
ball fields,  ticket  offices,  entrance  gates;  also  the 
contracting  and  arranging  for  intercollegiate  contests; 
the  advertising;  the  pubHcation  of  souvenir  pro- 
grammes; the  sale  of  tickets,  which  sometimes 
amounts  to  from  ten  to  thirty  thousand  dollars  in  a 
single  game;  the  proper  accounting  and  division  of 
the  receipts ;  the  arranging  of  a  schedule  of  trips ;  the 
management  of  training  quarters ;  the  purchase  of  all 
the  outfit  required  for  football  and  baseball  games; 
the  keeping  of  trainers,  rubbers,  officials,  and  sub- 
stitutes. All  this  involves  a  great  amount  of  busi- 
ness and  the  handhng  of  large  amounts  of  money. 
There  might  also  be  counted  here  the  business  con- 
nected with  the  pubHc  appearances  of  the  various 
musical  clubs  of  the  university. 

The  investments  of  a  large  institution  constitute 
one  of  its  most  serious  responsibihties.  The  ordi- 
nary risks  may  not  be  incurred;  every  step  taken 
must  be  supposed,  at  least  at  the  time,  to  be  per- 
fectly secure.  This  naturally  increases  the  amount 
and  the  responsibility  of  the  work.  A  large  univer- 
sity will  have  from  five  to  fifteen  milHons  of  dollars 
of  endowment  funds  invested  in  various  forms.  A 
portion  of  this  will  be  in  real  estate  which  must  be 
kept  in  repair,  on  which  taxes  are  to  be  paid,  and 
from    which    rents    are    collected.     City    business 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      177 

property  is  usually  regarded  with  especial  favor  as 
fulfilling  in  a  satisfactory  way  the  most  rigid  demands 
imposed  by  the  nature  of  the  trust,  but  residence 
property  will  in  all  probability  form  a  large  factor  in 
the  situation;  and  the  university  is  thus  brought 
into  contact  as  landlord  with  perhaps  hundreds  of 
tenants.  Other  desirable  forms  of  investment  are 
fees,  mortgages,  and  bonds — especially  railroad 
bonds  which  are  properly  and  sufficiently  secured; 
and  stocks,  especially  when  gifts  are  paid  in  this 
form,  for  ordinarily  a  board  of  trustees  will  hesitate 
to  buy  stocks.  The  business  of  a  university,  with 
eight  or  ten  milHons  of  dollars  which  continually 
require  to  be  reinvested,  is  therefore  equivalent  to 
the  work  of  two  or  three  large  banks,  and  the  strictly 
banking  part  of  the  business  transactions  thus  in- 
volved is  not  inconsiderable. 

There  remains  to  consider,  among  those  with 
whom  the  university  deals  in  a  business  way,  the 
large  number  of  persons  ordinarily  known  as  patrons. 
It  may  be  suggested  that  this  relationship  is  one  of 
philanthropy  rather  than  of  business.  Those  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  relation  in  its  details,  how- 
ever, understand  that  it  is  really  a  business  matter. 
Men  and  women  contribute  to  the  funds  of  an  insti- 
tution only  when  they  have  satisfied  themselves  that 
its  affairs  are  managed  in  a  strictly  business  manner. 
Their  gifts  are  made  on  certain  conditions,  which 
they  expect  to  be  carried  out  in  a  legal  way.  It  is 
generally  supposed  that  in  large  institutions  much 


178      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

efifort  and  time  are  spent  in  securing  contributions. 
In  special  cases  and  under  special  circumstances 
such  effort  is  sometimes  made,  but  in  general  the 
money  which  such  an  institution  receives  in  the 
form  of  gifts  comes  without  solicitation.  It  is  prob- 
ably safe  to  assert  that  in  the  case  of  90  per  cent,  of 
the  money  given  to  a  large  institution  the  initiative 
is  taken  by  the  donor,  and  not  by  the  university  con- 
cerned. It  is  surely  a  matter  of  business,  in  so  far 
as  the  university  undertakes  to  carry  out  in  detail 
certain  conditions  imposed  with  the  gift.  These  con- 
ditions sometimes  involve  annuities,  and  so  the  uni- 
versity for  the  time  being  undertakes  the  work  of  an 
insurance  company.  At  other  times  they  take  the 
form  of  a  trust,  the  property  being  committed  to  the 
university  with  the  understanding  that  all  or  certain 
portions  of  its  income  shall  be  given  to  certain  persons 
during  life.  In  these  cases  the  university  assumes 
the  responsibility  and  duties  of  a  trust  company. 
The  relationship  therefore  in  many  cases  becomes 
a  business  one. 

For  the  transaction  of  its  various  kinds  of  business 
the  university  has  different  agencies.  First  of  all, 
in  a  business  way,  come  the  trustees,  whose  function 
it  is  to  control  and  manage  the  business  affairs  of 
the  institution.  The  faculties  of  the  institution  are 
given  power  to  conduct  the  educational  side  of  the 
work,  subject  to  certain  general  regulations  imposed 
by  the  trustees.  In  general,  trustees  act  only  on 
those  matters  which  involve  the  expenditure  of  money; 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      179 

but  this,  of  course,  includes  appointments  on  the 
staff  of  instruction.  The  statutes  of  a  large  univer- 
sity enacted  by  the  trustees  take  up  those  questions 
which  involve  money  matters  as  well  as  the  general 
organization  of  the  institution.  The  president  of 
the  board  of  trustees  is  in  many  of  the  larger  institu- 
tions also  the  president  of  the  university,  and  as 
such  acts  as  chief  executive  officer  in  business  as 
well  as  in  educational  matters.  In  other  institu- 
tions the  president  of  the  board  is  a  man  chosen  for 
his  large  business  discretion,  and  although  not  a 
salaried  officer,  he  devotes  himself  in  large  measure 
to  the  material  interests  of  the  university.  His 
judgment  has  great  weight  in  the  determination  of  all 
matters  of  a  business  character.  The  treasurer  of 
the  university  is  in  some  cases  the  business  manager; 
in  others  he  acts  only  as  custodian  of  all  funds.  In 
the  latter  case  he  is  generally  chairman  of  the  finance 
committee.  To  the  business  manager  or  the  treasurer 
is  committed  the  general  oversight  of  the  university 
business.  It  is  he  who  superintends  the  manage- 
ment of  buildings  and  grounds,  who  takes  the  initia- 
tive in  presenting  investments  for  consideration,  and 
who  looks  after  the  property  and  property  interests 
of  the  institution.  The  treasurer  or  business  man- 
ager of  the  larger  institution  has  greater  and  more 
varied  responsibility  resting  upon  him  than  does  the 
president  of  a  large  bank. 

Besides   the   business    manager,    the   university 
must  have  a  registrar  or  bursar,  who  receives  fees, 


i8o      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

rents  rooms  in  the  halls,  collects  bills  for  board;  a 
director  for  the  management  of  its  printing  and  pub- 
lishing; directors  also  for  the  museum  work,  the 
library,  and  the  various  laboratories,  each  of  which 
has  its  business  side;  purchasing  agents  in  various 
departments,  or  officers  authorized  to  make  pur- 
chases. An  auditor  or  chief  accountant  will  have 
charge  of  the  university  accounts,  and  audit  all 
expenditures.  The  staff  of  accountants  in  such  an 
institution  is  as  large  as  that  of  a  great  business  con- 
cern, while  its  stenographic  force  will  in  all  proba- 
bility be  much  larger.  The  force  of  janitors  and 
servants  already  referred  to  completes  the  list  of 
agencies  for  the  execution  of  the  business  or  material 
side  of  the  university's  work. 

The  president  in  a  large  university  is  expected, 
in  addition  to  his  educational  duties,  to  negotiate 
contracts  with  the  members  of  the  teaching  staff — 
a  work  in  itself  almost  sufficient  for  one  man;  to 
look  after  the  expenditures  in  the  various  depart- 
ments, and  to  see  that  they  do  not  exceed  the  appro- 
priations; to  serve  on  the  committees  of  the  trustees 
that  have  to  do  with  the  buildings,  grounds,  and 
investments;  to  take  the  necessary  steps  which  will 
lead  to  the  voluntary  contribution  of  funds  to  the 
university  by  its  patrons.  While  generally  relieved 
from  direct  contact  with  employees,  janitors,  and 
servants,  he  must  be  sufficiently  familiar  with  the 
situation  in  each  case  to  know  that  the  work  is  being 
performed  satisfactorily  and  at  not  too  great  a  cost. 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      i8i 

to  harmonize  different  opinions  in  respect  to  the 
form  and  character  of  buildings  to  be  erected,  and 
to  consider  university  departmental  requests  for 
expenditures  of  various  kinds. 

If  we  ask  for  opinions  as  to  what  principles  in 
general  guide  and  control  in  the  administration  of 
the  business  affairs  of  a  large  university,  we  should, 
of  course,  find  much  variation.  But  those  who  have 
had  experience  in  this  field  of  business  would  agree, 
I  think,  to  the  following  propositions : 

1.  The  business  affairs  of  a  great  institution 
should  be  conducted,  not  for  the  sake  of  increasing 
the  business,  but  in  a  manner  wholly  subservient  to 
the  best  interests  of  the  educational  work  which  has 
been  undertaken.  To  this  end  every  dollar  possible, 
in  consistency  with  good  business  prudence,  will 
be  expended  for  educational  purposes,  and  every 
dollar  possible  will  be  saved  from  the  expenditures 
involved  in  the  administration  of  the  business  affairs. 
In  other  words,  the  successful  business  management 
is  not  in  itself  an  end,  but  merely  a  means  for  pro- 
viding facihties  of  an  educational  character. 

2.  The  business  affairs  of  a  large  institution  are 
of  the  nature  of  a  public  trust,  and  consequently 
differ  essentially  from  the  business  affairs  of  a  com- 
pany or  an  individual.  It  follows  that  no  risk  of  any 
kind  may  be  incurred.  Speculation  with  university 
funds  is  criminal.  A  transaction  which  would  be 
perfectly  proper,  and  from  a  business  point  of  view 
satisfactory,  for  an  individual  or  a  firm,  may  be 


i82      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

utterly  lacking  in  those  characteristics  which  make  it 
suitable  for  approval  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  a  uni- 
versity. It  is  probable  that  no  business  management 
in  the  world  is  more  conservative  than  that  of  the 
large  institutions  of  learning.  It  is  also  probable  that 
in  no  other  business  concerns  has  the  percentage  of 
loss  on  investments  or  from  dishonesty  been  so  small. 

3.  The  trusteeship  of  a  university,  although  in- 
volving the  greatest  possible  responsibility,  and  de- 
manding work  in  large  amount  and  of  high  charac- 
ter, must  be  a  voluntary  service.  The  president  of 
the  university,  with  one  exception,  should  be  the  only 
salaried  officer  among  the  trustees.  The  exception 
should  be  the  treasurer,  if  he  is  at  the  same  time 
business  manager.  Nor  can  it  be  asserted  that  such 
voluntary  service  is  difficult  to  secure.  The  honor 
and  satisfaction  of  connection  with  a  work  of  such 
character  will  be  found  sufficient  to  satisfy  men  of  the 
highest  ability. 

4.  In  the  administration  of  the  business  affairs 
of  an  institution  the  principles  of  civil  service  must 
prevail.  Favoritism  of  any  kind,  not  to  speak  of 
nepotism,  are  insufferable.  Those  who  are  held 
responsible  for  certain  conditions  of  the  work  must 
be  given  the  privilege  of  making  recommendations 
for  the  positions  under  their  direction,  subject,  of 
course,  to  the  approval  of  the  higher  authorities. 
Promotion  from  those  already  in  the  ranks  is  an 
essential  element. 

5.  Absolute  economy  must  be  exercised  in  every 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      183 

department  of  the  institution.  The  officers  charged 
with  the  responsibility  of  expending  money  should 
be  held  to  a  strict  accounting.  It  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  many  men,  eminent  in  their  respective  de- 
partments for  learning  and  for  ability  to  give  instruc- 
tion, fail  from  the  business  point  of  view  to  conduct 
their  own  affairs  or  those  of  the  institution,  when 
intrusted  to  them,  with  proper  care.  Debt  may  be 
incurred  only  when  satisfactory  provision  for  its 
due  payment  has  been  made  in  advance. 

6.  Special  consideration  from  the  business  point 
of  view  must  be  given  to  the  problems  connected 
with  the  expenses  of  student  life.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
encourage  luxury,  or  even  to  make  it  possible.  How- 
ever wealthy  a  young  man  may  be,  he  cannot  spend 
a  large  sum  of  money  annually  and  be  a  student. 
For  the  time  being,  at  all  events,  he  must  limit  his 
expenditures,  and  directly  or  indirectly  the  university 
must  see  that  this  is  done.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
equally  important  that  provision  be  made  for  the 
assistance  of  worthy  students  who  find  themselves 
unable  to  continue  their  work  for  lack  of  means.  It 
is  possible  to  make  mistakes  in  assisting  students 
who  do  not  deserve  assistance,  and  in  rendering 
assistance  in  a  manner  which  will  injure  the  student 
even  if  he  deserves  help.  To  require  that  every 
student  who  receives  help  from  the  university  shall 
make  suitable  return  to  the  university  in  the  form  of 
service  or  of  money  is  a  practical  business  way  of 
treating  the  whole  matter.     Help  should  be  ren- 


i84      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

dered  them  in  return  for  work  done,  or  as  a  loan 
to  be  repaid.  In  the  latter  case  there  is  no  objec- 
tion, from  the  business  point  of  view,  if  the  loan  is 
arranged  on  terms  especially  favorable  to  the  stu- 
dent. Such  a  student  cannot  be  expected  in  every 
case  to  furnish  satisfactory  security,  but  without  such 
security  money  should  not  be  loaned  except  to  those 
whose  character  is  personally  known  to  the  officers  in 
charge  to  be  above  reproach. 

7.  The  financial  transactions  of  a  large  institu- 
tion should  be  announced  regularly  to  the  public. 
The  exact  amount  of  expenditures,  even  in  detail,  in 
the  various  departments,  the  receipts  from  any  and 
every  source,  are  facts  which  the  public  deserve  to 
know;  and,  besides,  a  knowledge  of  these  facts  will 
give  the  university  the  confidence  of  the  public. 
No  single  act  can  be  performed  by  an  institution 
that  will  accomphsh  greater  good  than  the  regular 
and  systematic  publication  in  official  form  of  the 
receipts  and  expenditures  of  money. 

8.  Contracts  with  members  of  the  teaching  staff 
are  not  treated  like  contracts  with  the  officers  of  the 
university  conducting  the  business  side  of  the  insti- 
tution, or  Hke  contracts  made  in  ordinary  business 
affairs.  A  large  university  is  accustomed  to  accept 
the  resignation  of  a  professor  or  instructor  whenever 
it  may  be  proffered,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
time  for  which  the  professor  or  instructor  was 
appointed.  Resignations  are  thus  accepted  in  the 
case  of  men  who  have  been  appointed  to  do  a  certain 
service,  and  who  before  doing  that  service  desire 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  A  UNIVERSITY      185 

to  connect  themselves  with  another  institution.  It 
is  not  considered  out  of  place  for  one  institution  to 
make  assiduous  effort  to  draw  away  a  member  of 
the  staff  of  another  institution.  The  feeling  pre- 
vails everywhere  in  the  large  universities  that  what- 
ever is  for  the  best  interests  of  the  individual  will 
in  the  end  prove  to  be  for  the  best  interests  of  edu- 
cation; and  the  university  can  in  no  case  afford  to 
deprive  the  individual  officer  of  a  chance  to  accept 
a  position  of  higher  opportunity  and  influence.  It 
is  only  in  the  smaller  institutions  of  learning  that 
this  principle  is  not  acted  upon. 

9.  A  university,  although  possessed  of  twenty 
millions  of  dollars,  is  from  the  legal  point  of  view 
a  charitable  institution.  Whatever  may  be  its  wealth 
or  influence,  its  affairs  are  managed  as  are  those  of 
great  charitable  institutions.  It  does  not  hesitate 
to  accept  from  any  and  every  source  gifts,  large  or 
small,  with  which  to  prosecute  its  work  for  the 
public  benefit.  It  declares  no  dividends.  The  uni- 
versity gives  to  the  public  through  its  students  every 
dollar  paid  by  the  students,  and,  with  each  such 
dollar,  three  or  five  in  addition.  There  are  today 
fifteen  or  twenty  institutions  in  America  with  refer- 
ence to  which  the  above  statements,  with  modifica- 
tions, will  be  essentially  true. 

Enough  has  been  said  perhaps  to  show  that  a 
great  institution  of  learning  is,  altogether  apart  from 
its  educational  work,  a  business  concern  which 
deserves  to  take  its  place  side  by  side  with  the 
world's  other  great  business  concerns. 


XI 

ARE  SCHOOL-TEACHERS  UNDERPAID? 

In  Boston,  high-school  teachers  are  paid  from 
$1,620  to  $3,060;  grammar-school  and  elementary 
teachers,  $936  to  $2,340.  In  Chicago  salaries  range 
from  $850  to  $2,000  in  the  high  schools,  and  from 
$500  to  $825  in  the  graded  schools.  In  St.  Louis 
the  limit  is  slightly  lower — ^high-school  salaries  run- 
ning from  $682.50  to  $2,060,  while  elementary- 
school  teachers  begin  at  $420,  with  a  maximum  of 
$892.50.  San  Francisco  pays  from  $900  to  $1,350 
in  its  high  schools,  and  $450  to  $747  in  the  grades. 
In  Philadelphia  the  average  salary  paid  to  men  in 
all  the  schools  is  $1,487.70;  to  women,  $569.70.  The 
highest  salary  paid  in  MinneapoHs,  excluding  prin- 
cipals, is  $1,300  to  a  woman,  $1,000  to  a  man — a 
reversal  of  the  usual  order.  Figures  for  the  entire 
state  of  Minnesota  show  that  the  average  salary  of 
men  teachers  in  the  graded  schools  is  $513,  in  the 
district  schools  $349.70;  while  the  average  for  women 
is  $381  in  the  grades  and  only  $279.72  for  the  country 
district  schools.  New  York  state  shows  a  higher 
average  because  of  its  cities — $604.78  for  the  entire 
state,  the  average  in  cities  being  $879.27,  and  in 
towns  as  low  as  $322.49.  The  highest  average 
salary  paid  to  men  teachers  in  Pennsylvania  is 
$719.80  in  Delaware  County.  The  average  in 
186 


ARE  SCHOOL-TEACHERS  UNDERPAID       187 

Fulton  County  is  the  lowest,  $226.71.  Delaware 
County  has  also  the  highest  average  for  women, 
$416.88,  while  Pike  County  has  a  minimum  of 
$221.67. 

Can  any  inteUigent  person  read  these  figures  and 
be  willing  to  say  that  they  represent  a  satisfactory 
situation  ?  To  me  it  seems  a  perfectly  clear  propo- 
sition, based  on  these  figures  and  on  the  facts  as 
they  are  known  to  exist,  that  the  salaries  paid  teach- 
ers of  the  elementary  and  secondary  grades  in  our 
pubHc  schools  are  grossly  insufficient  and  inadequate. 
To  some  it  may  seem  unnecessary  to  consider  this 
question;  and  yet,  if  injustice  is  being  done  a  great 
constituency  in  the  public  service,  surely  remon- 
strance and  complaint  are  proper.  In  this  brief 
statement,  therefore,  I  desire  to  present  five  argu- 
ments in  support  of  my  protest  against  the  injustice 
done  this  great  body  of  faithful  public  servants. 
Each  argument  thus  presented  is  in  itself  sufficient, 
but  when  the  five  are  taken  together  the  case  against 
the  present  policy  is  overwhelming  in  its  strength. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  salaries  paid  are  insuffi- 
cient in  view  of  the  grade  of  talent  demanded  for  the 
work  of  instruction.  There  was  once  a  time  when  a 
young  man  or  woman  who  could  do  nothing  else 
turned  his  thought  toward  teaching;  but  in  the  better 
sections  of  the  country,  and  especially  in  the  cities, 
that  time  is  rapidly  passing.  It  is  universally  recog- 
nized that  strong  qualities  are  called  for  in  the 
teacher,  and  that  a  successful  teacher  is  one  who 


i88      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

can  succeed  likewise  in  a  multitude  of  ways  outside 
of  the  profession  of  teaching.  To  understand  the 
truth  of  this  statement  one  need  only  examine  the 
long  list  of  men  and  women  who  have  given  up  their 
work  as  teachers  to  enter  upon  some  form  of  business 
and  have  conducted  the  new  work  most  successfully. 
Just  as  in  the  departments  of  higher  education 
intellectual  abiHty  of  the  highest  order  is  called  for, 
and  nothing  short  of  this  will  satisfy  the  require- 
ments, so  it  is  in  lower  education.  The  demands 
of  the  work  can  be  met  only  by  those  whom  nature 
has  endowed  with  a  very  high  order  of  talent.  The 
teacher  to  whom  is  intrusted  the  fostering  care  of  our 
children  should  surely  be  one  whose  ability  we 
respect.  How  is  it  possible  to  satisfy  the  conscience, 
if  a  policy  other  than  this  prevails  ?  Is  there  any- 
thing more  precious  than  the  child,  whether  regarded 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  family  or  the  state  ?  Is 
not  his  training  a  thing  of  pre-eminent  importance  ? 
And  yet  we  are  wiUing  to  pay  to  his  teacher  a  salary 
far  less  than  is  paid  in  many  cases  to  the  keeper  of 
our  horses  or  to  the  keeper  of  our  cattle.  Who  can- 
not see  the  utter  absurdity  of  this?  The  teacher, 
everything  being  considered,  should  be,  and  in  many 
cases  is,  the  equal  of  the  man  or  woman  who  enters 
into  any  other  professional  hfe.  Shall  we  stultify  our- 
selves by  continuing  to  pay  the  teacher  at  a  rate 
which  places  on  him  or  her  the  brand  of  intellectual 
weakness  for  having  accepted  a  position  which 
promises  its  occupant  so  little  profit  or  advantage  ? 


ARE  SCHOOL-TEACHERS  UNDERPAID       189 

In  the  second  place,  the  salaries  paid  are  insuffi- 
cient in  view  of  the  large  amount  of  technical  prepara- 
tion required  for  the  performance  of  the  duties  of 
the  office.  In  this  respect  again  the  times  are 
changed.  The  teacher  in  the  grades  must  be  an 
expert  in  psychology,  and  must  have  a  reasonable 
acquaintance  with  all  of  the  departments  of  knowl- 
edge which  contribute  toward  the  life  and  thought  of 
the  child.  The  field  is  iUimitable.  Years  of  prepa- 
ration are  required;  first  in  the  high  school,  and  later 
in  the  college  or  professional  school.  Effort  of  the 
most  serious  character  is  demanded,  and  many  who 
undertake  this  arduous  preparation  find  themselves 
unequal  to  the  task  and  drop  it.  A  small  proportion 
pursue  the  work  to  the  end.  The  time  has  come 
when  preparation  for  teaching,  even  in  the  grades, 
requires  a  training  and  a  proficiency  equal  to  that 
demanded  by  any  other  profession.  These  require- 
ments have  gradually  been  increased  until  today,  in 
many  quarters,  only  those  possessed  of  a  vigorous 
physical  constitution,  a  strong,  untiring  purpose, 
and,  in  addition,  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  are 
able  to  secure  the  preparation  called  for.  Is  it 
justice  to  those  who  have  pursued  this  laborious 
course  of  preparation  that  in  the  end  they  should 
find  themselves  Hmited  to  a  salary  so  small  as  to 
seem  pitiful  in  view  of  the  hardship  undergone  and 
the  expense  which  has  been  incurred  ? 

The  third  reason  why  the  salaries  paid  are  insuf- 
ficient is  in  view  of  the  character  of  the  work  required 


ipo      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  the  teacher.  Those  who  have  never  taught  have 
but  slight  conception  of  the  actual  demand  made 
upon  the  nervous  energy  of  the  teacher  in  the  school. 
It  is  possible  that  in  some  cases  parents  secure  some 
idea  of  the  strain  under  which  the  teacher  works,  but 
it  will  be  remembered  that  the  family  rarely  exceeds 
three,  or  four,  or  five  children,  while  the  teacher  is 
compelled  to  do  service  for  thirty  or  fifty  or  more. 
The  constant  alertness  which  is  necessary,  and  the 
unbroken  and  uninterrupted  strain  which,  for  many, 
proves  to  be  a  fatal  thing,  draw  upon  the  constitu- 
tion to  such  an  extent  that  weariness  of  mind  and 
body  comes  to  be  so  great  that  only  absolute  rest 
brings  relief.  The  four,  five,  or  six  hours  in  the 
schoolroom  require  a  strength  of  body  and  a  strength 
of  mind  as  great  as  that  required  in  the  practice  of 
any  profession.  And  when  it  is  remembered  that 
this  same  routine  of  life  comes  day  after  day,  week 
after  week,  and  month  after  month,  one  cannot  fail 
to  realize  the  painfulness  of  it  all,  the  courage  which 
alone  makes  it  possible,  and  the  utter  self-sacrifice 
which  is  involved ;  for  in  no  other  work  can  it  be  so 
truly  said  that  the  toiler  gives  forth  of  his  own 
strength  to  the  one  for  whom  he  toils.  The  end  of 
it  all,  unless  special  effort  is  made  to  avoid  this  end, 
is  exhaustion,  mental  and  nervous;  and  the  number 
of  physical  wrecks  furnished  by  the  teacher's  pro- 
fession is  certainly  larger  in  proportion  than  that  in 
any  other  calling  of  life.  Is  such  work  unworthy 
of  a  respectable  salary?    Is  there  anywhere  work 


ARE  SCHOOL-TEACHERS  UNDERPAID       191 

of  a  more  serious  or  more  vital  character  than  this  ? 
Is  work  that  counts  for  more  in  the  life  of  the  family 
or  the  nation  done  anywhere  else  ?  Then  why  treat 
it  in  this  ignoble  fashion  ? 

Beside  the  character  of  the  work,  there  is  the 
necessary  professional  expense  connected  with  a 
teacher's  life;  and  this  is  the  fourth  reason  why  the 
salaries  paid  are  insufficient.  The  teacher  who  is 
to  maintain  his  or  her  position  must  read  daily. 
This  reading  requires  the  purchase  of  many  books. 
The  library,  indeed,  is  an  essential  feature  in  the 
teacher's  life.  The  growing  teacher  will  not  fail  to 
spend  at  least  10  to  20  per  cent,  of  his  salary  from 
year  to  year  for  new  books.  In  these  days  again 
important  results  are  accomplished  in  teachers'  con- 
ventions and  conferences.  To  attend  these  money 
is  required.  There  may  be  a  conference  of  the 
teachers  of  a  particular  subj  ect  which  meets  per- 
haps three  or  four  times  a  year.  Or  there  may  be 
another  conference  of  the  teachers  of  the  county,  or 
of  a  certain  portion  of  the  city.  Perhaps  there  is 
still  another  conference  of  the  teachers  in  the  city; 
and  finally  there  is  the  convention  of  the  teachers  in 
all  of  the  states.  It  is  really  essential  to  the  life  and 
progress  of  the  teacher  that  these  meetings  shall  be 
attended,  for  it  is  here  that  one  comes  in  contact 
with  those  who  are  deeply  interested  in  the  same 
subjects,  and  from  such  contact  the  benefits  are  most 
numerous  and  valuable.  But,  after  all,  the  greatest 
necessity  of  the  teacher,  regarded  wrongly  by  many 


192      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

as  a  luxury,  is  travel.  Nothing  is  so  elevating  or  so 
encouraging  or  so  inspiring  as  travel.  Home  travel 
and  foreign  travel  together  constitute  a  feature  in 
self-education  which  has  never  been  truly  estimated. 
But  how  can  these  things  be  done  without  money  ? 
They  cannot.  How  different  will  be  the  life  of  a 
teacher  when  opportunities  of  this  kind  are  afforded, 
and  how  different  would  be  the  instruction  given  the 
pupils  if  the  teacher  thus  comes  into  contact  with 
the  lives  of  others!  At  least  20  per  cent,  of  the 
teacher's  salary  can  be  spent  to  advantage  in  this 
kind  of  effort  to  renew  the  mind  and  the  body.  Can 
it  be  done  on  the  present  basis  of  salaries?  One 
need  only  study  the  annual  budget  of  the  average 
teacher  to  see  how  hopeless  is  the  case. 

The  salaries  paid  are  insufficient,  finally,  in 
view  of  the  provision  which  should  be  made  before- 
hand for  old  age.  While  the  professor  in  the 
university  may  well  continue  his  work  in  ordinary 
cases  until  he  is  sixty-five  or  seventy  years  old,  the 
average  teacher  in  the  high  school  or  in  the  grades 
ought  to  give  up  his  work  much  earher.  This  is 
true  partly  because  the  work  has  been  so  different 
from  that  carried  on  by  the  professor;  partly  also 
because  the  age  of  the  students  is  Ukewise  different. 
It  is  a  serious  question  whether  a  woman  over  fifty 
or  fifty-five  years  of  age  should  teach  in  the  grades. 
Such  a  woman  can,  of  course,  superintend  or  super- 
vise instruction,  but  in  only  a  few  cases  will  a  teacher 
of  this  age  find  herself  sufficiently  fresh  and  flexible 


ARE  SCHOOL-TEACHERS  UNDERPAID       193 

to  meet  the  demands  of  younger  children.  But 
what  is  there  left  for  a  teacher  who  is  compelled  to 
give  up  her  work  at  the  age  of  fifty  or  fifty-five? 
No  new  occupation  can  be  taken  up.  The  work 
of  life  is  virtually  finished,  and  yet  the  individual 
must  go  on  living,  possibly  for  many  years.  Pro- 
vision beforehand  must,  therefore,  be  made,  if  not 
in  the  form  of  a  pension,  in  any  case  in  the  form  of 
savings  set  aside  from  year  to  year  for  this  much- 
dreaded  period.  It  is  here  that  a  serious  problem 
presents  itself.  With  the  many  demands  made 
upon  the  teacher;  with  the  necessity  for  taking 
advantage  of  the  opportunities  which  might  increase 
efl&ciency;  with  the  calls  for  help  that  come  perhaps 
more  frequently  to  the  teacher  than  to  any  other 
person;  with  the  necessity  in  many  cases  of  support- 
ing parents,  or  families,  or  friends — for  all  these 
the  meager  salary  has  been  utterly  inadequate, 
and  nothing  remains  with  which  to  make  the  years 
of  old  age  even  comfortable. 

The  picture  is  a  dark  one.  Many  a  tragedy 
lurks  in  the  background.  It  is  a  picture  the  sight 
of  which  ought  to  inspire  every  parent  to  undertake 
a  contest  with  the  authorities  for  better  salaries; 
because  better  salaries  mean  better  talent,  better 
preparation,  a  higher  character  of  work,  the  taking 
advantage  of  larger  opportunities,  and,  in  addition, 
the  privilege  to  which  every  man  or  woman  who 
has  given  up  life  for  the  sake  of  others  is  entitled — 
the  privilege  of  a  quiet  and  comfortable  old  age. 


194      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Why  does  this  injustice  continue?  Because 
the  eyes  of  parents,  as  well  as  of  those  in  authority, 
are  blind.  How  can  they  be  opened  ?  Let  us  ask 
ourselves  this  question,  and  then  not  rest  till  we 
find  its  answer. 


XII 

WHY  ARE  THERE  FEWER  STUDENTS  FOR 
THE  MINISTRY? 

In  thirty  of  the  more  prominent  Protestant  theo- 
logical schools  of  the  North  there  were  enrolled  in 
1894,  2,522  students.  In  1903-4  the  same  schools 
registered  2,133 — ^  decrease  of  389,  or  over  15  per 
cent.  If  the  comparison  were  made  with  1897  i^" 
stead  of  1894,  and  if  from  these  figures  for  1903-4 
there  were  subtracted  the  names  of  students  who  are 
known  to  be  pastors,  and  who  are  attending  only  the 
summer  session  or  some  other  special  session,  the 
real  decrease  would  be  nearer  450  than  389.  The 
following  table  contains  the  facts  concerning  the 
attendance  of  the  leading  schools  of  four  denomina- 
tions in  the  North,  east  of  the  Mississippi,  at  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  decade  1894-1904: 


Attendance 

Loss 

OR 

Gain 

Per 

1894 

1904 

CENT 

Baptist— 

Colgate 

49 
84 

75 
124 

40 

62 

48 

134 

-9 
—  22 
-27 
-f-io 

-18 

Crozer 

-26 

Newton 

-36 
+8 

Rochester 

Methodist — 

Drew. . .' 

332 

142 
144 
151 

284 

168 
170 
181 

-48 

4-26 
+  26 
+  30 

-14 

4-18 

Garrett 

+  18 

Boston 

+  19 

195 


196      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 


Attendance 

Loss 

OR 

Gain 

Per 

1894 

1904 

Cent 

Presbyterian — 

Auburn 

437 

83 
233 
212 

23 

519 

52 
184 
no 

19 

+  82 

-31 

-49 

—  102 

-4 

+  18 
-37 

Princeton 

McCormick 

-48 
-17 

Lane 

Congregational — 

Andover 

551 

54 

49 

202 

54 
39 

365 

16 
27 
93 
59 
32 

-186 

-38 

—22 

-109 

+5 

-7 

-33 

-70 
-45 
-54 
+  10 

Bangor 

Chicago 

Hartford 

Oberlin 

—  18 

398 

227 

-171 

-43 

The  following  table  indicates  the  attendance  at 
the  four  theological  schools  whose  student  body 
may  be  called  interdenominational: 


1894 

1904 

Loss  or 
Gain 

Per  cent 

Harvard  (undenominational) . . 
Union  (Presbyterian) 

50 
143 
118 

152 

52 
119 

97 
177 

+  2 
-24 
—  21 

+  25 

+4 
—  16 

Yale  (Congregational) 

University  of   Chicago  (Bap- 
tist.     Excluding     Sununer 
Quarter) 

-18 
+  16 

463 

445 

-18 

-4 

A  consideration  of  these  figures  shows  that  there 
has  been  a  decrease  in  these  interdenominational 
institutions  during  ten  years,  of  eighteen,  or  4  per 
cent.;  that  in  the  Congregational  seminaries  the 
decrease  has  been  one  hundred  and  seventy-one, 


STUDENTS  FOR  THE  MINISTRY  197 

or  43  per  cent.;  that  among  the  Presbyterians  the 
decrease  has  been  ^^  per  cent,  (in  McCormick 
nearly  50  per  cent.,  in  Princeton  more  than  20  per 
cent.);  while,  on  the  other  hand,  there  has  been  an 
increase  in  the  Methodist  seminaries  of  about  20 
per  cent.  The  schools  which  draw  their  constitu- 
ency from  several  denominations  show  a  decUne, 
except  in  the  case  of  Harvard,  with  its  increase  of 
two,  and  the  University  of  Chicago,  with  its  increase 
of  twenty-five.  The  decrease  seems  to  be  in  the 
two  denominations  which  are  generally  conceded 
to  represent  more  wealth  and  to  be  more  influenced 
by  modern  intellectual  currents  than  any  others, 
the  Presbyterian  and  the  Congregational. 

Two  or  three  additional  points  may  be  noted  aside 
from  these  tables.  Of  the  nearly  twelve  hundred 
men  graduating  in  1904  from  Yale,  Harvard,  Colum- 
bia, and  Princeton,  less  than  thirty  stated  that  they 
were  planning  to  enter  the  ministry.  The  eleven 
Baptist  colleges  north  of  the  Ohio  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi  graduated  in  1904  only  twenty-eight  men 
who  intended  to  enter  the  ministry. 

No  one  will  question  the  general  proposition  that 
the  number  of  students  preparing  for  the  ministry 
in  the  theological  seminaries  of  the  various  denomina- 
tions is  decreasing;  that,  in  fact,  it  has  decreased 
very  considerably  within  the  last  decade.  It  may 
not  be  an  easy  matter  to  explain  this  remarkable 
decrease,  but  it  is  possible  that  some  of  the  features 
in  the  situation  may  be  pointed  out. 


198      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  other  professions 
are  relatively  more  attractive  in  these  modern  times. 
This  is  so  not  only  because  they  offer  better  oppor- 
tunities for  acquiring  wealth,  but  also  because  the 
general  influence  of  the  minister,  even  when  success- 
ful, has  diminished,  while  that  of  the  successful 
practitioner  in  law  or  medicine,  not  to  speak  of  other 
professions,  has  greatly  increased.  Whether  the 
field  of  influence  of  the  average  minister  has  di- 
minished absolutely  may  be  questioned,  but  there 
can  be  no  question  as  to  the  relative  position  which 
he  now  occupies  in  a  community.  From  the  point 
of  view  of  the  average  young  man  nineteen  to  twenty- 
one  years  old,  who  notes  the  frequent  changes  in 
the  pulpits  of  the  parishes  with  which  he  may  be 
most  familiar,  and  observes  the  general  feehng  too 
often  manifested  toward  the  minister  by  those  about 
him,  this  sacred  calHng,  once  the  ideal  of  every  sober- 
minded  youth,  has  lost  the  inspiration  that  formerly 
was  associated  with  it.  The  minister  is  no  longer 
the  one  person  in  the  community  who  stands  high 
above  the  others,  and,  for  that  reason,  if  for  no  other, 
commanded  the  esteem  and  respect  of  all.  The 
sacredness,  and  consequently  the  attractiveness,  of 
the  position  have  largely  been  lost;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  attorney,  the  physician,  and  even 
the  engineer  and  the  teacher,  have  come  to  occupy 
positions  which  in  each  case  possess  attractions  of  a 
pecuhar  character.  For  if  one  is  drawn  toward  the 
political  field,  is  not  the  law  an  open  door  ?    If  he 


STUDENTS  FOR  THE  MINISTRY  199 

is  touched  with  the  spirit  of  modern  science,  in  what 
field  may  he  more  easily  have  opportunity  for  the 
cultivation  of  this  spirit  than  in  medicine  or  perhaps 
in  engineering  ?  While,  if  in  his  heart  there  is  a  real 
desire  to  help  in  the  development  of  individual  life 
and  character,  is  not  the  teacher's  desk  or  the  pro- 
fessorial chair  even  more  certain  and  more  attractive 
than  the  ministry  ?  In  the  upHfting  of  the  other  pro- 
fessions that  of  the  ministr}^  has  fallen  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  young  man  of  the  present  generation. 
In  the  old  days,  when  the  home  religious  influ- 
ence was  strong,  the  father  and  mother  not  infre- 
quently set  aside  for  the  ministry  the  first-born  son, 
or,  in  any  case,  one  of  the  boys.  This  was  regarded 
as  a  sacred  duty,  and  was  only  a  single  expression, 
although  a  significant  one,  of  the  powerful  influence 
of  the  rehgious  spirit  manifest  in  the  home.  It  is 
unfortunately  true  that  in  very  few  at  best  of  the 
homes  of  the  present  generation  is  the  influence  of 
this  rehgious  spirit  so  strongly  felt,  while  in  all 
probabiHty  the  great  majority  of  our  homes  exhibit 
almost  a  total  lack  of  this  same  spirit.  If  it  is  true 
that  a  decision  in  reference  to  one's  future  work  is 
reached  in  most  cases  before  the  boy  leaves  home, 
and  indeed  before  he  reaches  his  eighteenth  year,  it 
is  apparent  that  the  home  influence  will  predominate 
in  this  decision;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is 
in  the  home  no  definite  expression  of  the  religious 
spirit,  no  serious  consideration  of  duty  in  regard  to 
this  particular  work;  if,  in  fact,  the  whole  subject 

/^  OF  THE  ■ 

f    UNI  VERS!  Tv 


200      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  religion  is  passed  over  without  serious  considera- 
tion, how  can  it  be  expected  that  the  minds  of  young 
men  will  be  turned  toward  the  calKng  of  the  ministry  ? 
The  gradual  decay  of  religious  expression,  whatever 
may  be  said  of  the  reHgious  feehng,  and  the  absence 
from  the  home  of  that  definite  and  tangible  insistence 
upon  the  consideration  of  religious  matters,  will 
explain  in  large  measure  why  the  boys  of  our  gen- 
eration do  not  look  forward  with  longing  heart  toward 
the  work  of  the  ministry. 

There  is,  moreover,  a  large  element  of  uncertainty 
in  the  career  of  the  minister  today  which  did  not 
characterize  it  in  the  past  days.  While  a  much 
larger  percentage  of  those  trained  for  the  ministry 
abandon  it  after  one  or  more  years  of  service  for 
work  of  another  kind,  and  there  is  consequently, 
from  this  point  of  view,  a  greater  element  of  uncer- 
tainty than  in  former  times,  I  have  in  mind  something 
quite  different.  A  much  more  disquieting  factor 
will  be  found  in  what  may  be  called  the  theological 
uncertainty  of  the  times.  All  men  concede  without 
question  that  the  church  in  its  theological  beliefs 
and  in  its  practical  methods  is  in  a  state  of  marked 
transition.  To  be  sure,  the  student  of  history 
knows  well  enough  that  Christianty  has  been  in  a 
state  of  transition  from  the  first  century,  but  the 
popular  mind,  in  view  of  trials  for  heresy,  discussions 
concerning  higher  criticism,  debates  on  inspiration, 
and  the  almost  universal  silence  of  the  pulpit  on  the 
question  of  the  future  life,  realizes  most  keenly,  and 


STUDENTS  FOR  THE  MINISTRY  201 

to  the  great  injury  of  the  cause  of  religion,  that 
in  a  peculiar  sense  we  today  are  living  in  a  time 
of  transition.  I  could  give  from  the  circles  of  my 
personal  acquaintanceship  the  names  of  fifty  or 
more  young  men  who  within  five  years  have  given 
up  their  desire  and  purpose  to  enter  the  ministry 
because  they  were  convinced  that  their  work  would 
not  be  acceptable  to  the  churches;  for  the  churches, 
in  spite  of  their  real  knowledge  of  the  present  situa- 
tion, demand,  for  the  sake  of  public  appearance,  a 
preaching  which  would  have  been  acceptable  fifty 
years  ago.  It  is  entirely  safe  to  say  that  this  one 
factor  of  uncertainty  in  the  present  period  of  transi- 
tion has  within  a  single  year  deterred  more  men 
from  entering  the  ministry  than  have  actually  entered 
it.  Nor  can  these  young  men  be  reproached.  Their 
educational  training  has  taught  them  to  think,  and 
they  have  experienced  the  intense  satisfaction  which 
comes  from  thinking.  Can  they  be  blamed  for 
refusing  to  enter  upon  a  profession  in  which  the  great 
majority  of  those  who  have  undertaken  it  are  for- 
bidden to  think  except  within  the  narrowest  limits  ? 
I  can  not  consider  at  this  point  whether  such  limita- 
tions are  necessary,  or  whether  they  are  desirable. 
In  this  connection  I  can  only  say  that  many  young 
men  of  the  present  generation  are  turning  aside  from 
the  ministry  because  they  fear  that  if  in  their  intel- 
lectual development  they  should  come  to  hold  certain 
opinions,  their  services  in  the  ministry  would  not 
be  desired,  and  they  would  find  themselves  without 


) 


202      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Opportunity  to  do  the  work  for  which  they  had  pre- 
pared themselves. 

I  do  not  think  that  many  men  are  turned  aside 
from  the  ministry  because  of  the  uncertainty  of  the 
small  salary  which  they  will  be  able  to  earn.  And 
yet  there  are  two  phases  of  this  question  which  in  all 
probability  exert  a  wide-reaching  influence.  The 
educated  man  of  today  regards  the  education  of  his 
children  as  an  absolute  necessity,  and  his  failure  to 
secure  for  them  an  education  as  a  deadly  sin  against 
God  and  against  man.  But  how  can  a  man  look 
forward  to  the  possibility  of  educating  even  a  small 
family  in  the  present  day  on  the  average  salary  of  the 
minister?  Can  even  God  demand  the  sacrifice 
which  such  a  one  must  make  if  he  shall  succeed  in 
securing  the  education  of  those  for  whose  lives  he  is 
responsible,  not  to  speak  of  the  greater  sacrifice  in- 
volved in  the  failure  to  provide  for  this  education  ? 
And,  further,  in  these  days  one's  influence  in  a  com- 
munity is  measured  to  a  considerable  extent  by  the 
facilities  which  he  may  have  for  a  respectable  life, 
and,  as  we  know,  the  life  of  a  leader  in  society  cannot 
be  respectable  in  the  popular  sense — it  cannot  at  all 
events  be  influential — if  the  proper  facilities  are  not 
provided.  I  should  like  to  propose  the  statement 
that  the  relative  loss  of  influence  of  the  minister  is 
due  to  the  smallness  of  his  salary  more  than  to  all 
other  influences  combined.  If  the  present  salaries 
could  be  doubled  within  ten  years,  the  influence  of 
the  average  minister  would  be  doubled.    The  world 


STUDENTS  FOR  THE  MINISTRY  203 

is  undoubtedly  wrong  in  many  of  the  estimates  which 
it  places  upon  men,  and  even  more  wrong  in  the 
principles  which  underlie  those  estimates;  but 
whether  right  or  wrong,  it  has  come  to  estimate  the 
individual  man  as  well  as  the  profession  in  terms  of 
a  commercial  character.  It  is  outrageous  that  it 
should  be  so,  but  it  is  so;  and  no  one  is  more  keenly 
susceptible  to  the  influence  of  such  estimation  than 
the  young  boy  of  eighteen  to  twenty  who  looks  about 
him  and  undertakes  to  gather  data  concerning  this 
or  that  profession. 

The  ministry  has  been  brought  into  disrepute  by 
the  fact  that  in  certain  denominations  men  have 
been  admitted  to  its  ranks  without  adequate  prepa- 
ration or  education.  The  dignity  of  the  office,  as 
well  as  its  sacredness,  has  been  greatly  injured  in 
this  way.  And  one  may  well  question  whether 
greater  harm  will  not  eventually  result  from  this 
promiscuous  admission  of  ignorant  candidates,  than 
the  good  which  these  men  have  been  able  to  accom- 
plish through  their  one  redeeming  qualification — zeal. 
The  medical  profession  becomes  more  and  more  at- 
tractive as  the  requirements  for  admission  are  ele- 
vated. This  is  true  likewise  of  the  legal  profession, 
and,  in  fact,  of  any  and  every  profession.  It  is  a 
strange  contradiction  that  in  proportion  as  the  re- 
quirements for  entrance  into  other  professions  have 
gradually  been  elevated,  in  that  same  proportion 
seemingly  the  requirements  for  admission  to  the 
clerical  profession  have  been  lowered.     The  statistics 


204      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

given  above,  which  show  that  in  the  Presbyterian 
and  Congregational  denominations  the  number  of 
candidates  has  diminished,  while  in  the  Methodist 
it  has  increased,  may  not  seem  consistent  with  this 
statement,  but  when  one  closely  studies  them  they 
do  not  contradict.  It  is  certainly  true  that  the 
existence  in  the  Methodist  church  of  the  episco- 
pate is  a  strong  incentive  to  men  to  enter  the 
ministry.  Denominations  like  the  Presbyterian, 
the  Congregational,  and  the  Baptist,  which  furnish  no 
opportunity  to  men  of  real  ability  for  administration 
and  public  service  to  distinguish  themselves  before 
their  fellows,  lack  one  of  the  most  important  elements 
which  appeal  to  the  ambition  of  a  young  man  who  is 
planning  for  his  life-work.  It  is  a  grave  question 
whether  the  dead  level  of  the  ministry  in  the  three 
denominations  just  named  is  as  advantageous  as  the 
extremes  of  strength  and  weakness  which  the  Metho- 
dist denomination  exhibits  in  its  ministry.  However 
true  this  may  be,  the  proposition  holds  good  that  the 
picture  presented  by  the  average  minister  of  the  pres- 
ent day,  with  the  evidence  which  it  furnishes  of  nar- 
rowness, lack  of  adequate  support,  absence  of  facili- 
ties for  modern  life,  with  its  almost  compulsory 
mediocrity  and  its  increasingly  diminished  dignity 
and  influence,  is  not  one  which  will  fire  the  imagina- 
tion of  a  young  man,  even  though  that  young  man 
has  in  his  heart  the  passion  which,  properly  guided, 
would  lead  him  into  this  calling,  rightly  designated 
sacred. 


STUDENTS  FOR  THE  MINISTRY  205 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  drift  of  college  life 
is  not  one  that  encourages  a  young  man  to  go  for- 
ward with  his  plans  for  ministerial  work  even  when 
he  has  reached  a  decision  before  entering  college. 
The  average  college  life,  like  the  average  life  of  mod- 
em times,  is  too  indifferent  to  religion  and  to  reli- 
gious influence.  Even  in  colleges  professedly  organ- 
ized to  train  men  for  the  ministry  the  curriculum 
studiously  avoids  those  subjects  which  would  keep 
alive  in  the  heart  of  a  young  man  the  fire  that  has 
already  been  kindled  there,  and  substitutes  other 
subjects  which  inevitably  draw  him  in  a  different 
direction.  Too  frequently  no  effort  is  made  to  cul- 
tivate in  him  the  desire  which  has  already  had  birth, 
and  every  college  professor  knows  that  a  majority  of 
those  who  enter  college  with  the  ministry  in  mind 
leave  college  to  take  up  law  or  medicine  or  to  enter 
business.  In  former  days  the  colleges  were  made 
up  almost  wholly  of  men  who  were  preparing  for  the 
ministry,  and  the  atmosphere  of  the  college  was  one 
which  strengthened  with  every  year  the  desire  already 
manifested.  But  in  modern  days  it  is  quite  the  op- 
posite, partly  because  the  scientific  spirit  has  come 
to  prevail;  partly  because  there  is  as  yet  no  adequate 
presentation  of  the  religious  position  from  a  modern 
point  of  view;  partly  because  so  large  a  proportion 
of  those  who  enter  the  ministry  do  so  without  a  col- 
lege training,  or,  in  fact,  no  adequate  training.  For 
these  and  other  reasons  the  college  atmosphere  is  in 


2o6      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

some  cases  indifferent,  in  others  even  hostile,  to  the 
development  of  the  ministerial  idea.  It  is  evident 
that  this  is  wrong.  What  shall  be  done  to  change 
the  situation?  Let  college  faculties  address  them- 
selves to  the  discovery  of  the  answer. 


XIII 

THE    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY    IN    ITS 
CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP^ 

The  topic  is  one  which  requires  exposition  and 
definition,  for  otherwise  we  shall  certainly  lose 
ourselves  among  the  many  possibiHties  of  its  treat- 
ment. I  shall  begin  categorically,  therefore,  by 
asking  three  specific  questions : 

To  what  extent  is  the  church  concerned  with 
our  civic  institutions  ? 

To  what  extent  is  the  preacher  concerned  with 
our  civic  institutions  ? 

To  what  extent  is  the  seminary  concerned  with 
the  training  of  preachers  in  reference  to  this  matter  ? 

The  mutual  influence  of  reHgion  and  government 
is  the  great  topic  in  all  history  of  the  past.  The 
connection  between  the  development  of  theological 
thought  and  the  development  of  civic  institutions 
has  always  been  close.  This  is  seen  in  the  large 
amount  of  language  now  employed  in  the  expression 
of  theological  thought  which  has  had  its  origin  in 
the  field  of  civic  institutions;  and  hkewise  in  many 
cases  in  the  actual  historical  relationship  between 
civic  institutions  and  theological  ideas.     We  may 

I  Read  at  the  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Dr. 
Hovey's  accession  to  the  faculty  of  The  Newton  Theological 
Institution,  June  7,  1899. 

207 


2o8      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

separate  religion  and  the  state,  but  we  cannot  sepa- 
rate theological  and  institutional  thought,  nor  can 
we  separate  religious  and  civil  life.  Our  Protes- 
tantism differs  from  European  Protestantism  partly 
because  our  civic  institutions  differ  from  those  of 
Europe. 

Until  very  recent  times,  the  church,  as  such,  has 
regarded  itself  as  the  state's  custodian,  although  not 
infrequently  the  state  has  assumed  the  custodianship 
of  the  church.  But  whether  the  one  or  the  other  was 
supreme  mattered  little,  since  between  the  civic  and 
the  ecclesiastical  there  was  practical  identity.  Under 
these  circumstances  no  separation  of  the  two,  in 
thought  or  fact,  was  possible ;  the  same  blood  coursed 
through  their  arteries;  the  same  brain  controlled  all 
activity.  The  organism  was  essentially  one.  Cor- 
ruption in  church  carried  with  it  corruption  in  state, 
and  corruption  in  state  carried  with  it  corruption  in 
church.  There  were  times,  indeed,  both  in  the 
history  of  the  Old  Testament  church  and  of  the 
Christian  church,  when  antagonism  arose.  The 
state,  for  one  reason  or  another,  would  antagonize 
the  practices  and  the  creeds  of  the  church.  But 
this  was  done  only  in  order  that  some  other  system 
of  practice  or  of  thought  might  be  introduced.  It 
was  not  supposed  for  a  moment  that  the  state  could 
get  along  without  the  church.  The  church  was, 
in  fact,  for  the  most  part  supreme,  and  controlled 
the  state  as  if  indeed  it  had  been  its  keeper. 

Civic  positions,  for  instance,  were  occupied  by 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY      209 

ecclesiastics.  The  form  of  government  was  largely 
that  of  the  hierarchy.  The  civic  officer  performed 
at  the  same  time  ecclesiastical  functions.  This 
was  the  situation  for  many  centuries,  and  history, 
whether  ancient,  mediaeval,  or  modern,  has  occupied 
itself  largely  in  describing  the  results  which  flowed 
from  such  a  connection  between  the  church  and 
civic  institutions. 

In  respect  to  this  matter  today  we  are  living  as  in 
respect  to  so  many  others — in  the  period  of  transition. 
We  are  accustomed  to  congratulate  ourselves  that 
the  state  and  the  church  are  separate;  but  very 
narrow  must  be  the  horizon  of  the  man  who  does 
not  see  that  only  in  a  small  portion  of  the  world, 
and  indeed  only  in  a  small  portion  of  Christendom, 
is  it  true  that  the  state  and  the  church  are  yet  sepa- 
rated. We  see  in  many  quarters  a  tendency  of 
thought  and  action  in  this  direction ;  but,  at  the  present 
rate  of  progress,  many  centuries  will  pass  before  it 
may  be  said  with  any  truth  that  in  Christian  nations 
church  and  state  are  distinct.  It  is,  however,  in 
the  modern  situation  that  we  are  interested.  And 
as  we  look  about  today  and  ask  as  to  the  concern 
of  the  church  with  civic  institutions,  in  those  coun- 
tries in  which  separation  has  taken  place,  we  find 
it  difficult  to  describe  the  state  of  things  definitely. 
The  church,  of  course,  in  view  of  its  separation, 
holds  itself  aloof.  This  is  the  prevaiUng  attitude, 
and  with  this  there  naturally  come  those  other 
attitudes    which    ordinarily    accompany    aloofness; 


2IO      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

namely,  indifference,  disregard,  and  hostility.  The 
church  in  separating  itself  assumed  a  hostile  attitude, 
which  has  not  even  yet  sufiFered  serious  modifica- 
tion. The  church  now  declares  that,  as  such,  she 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  state,  and  she  looks 
askance  upon  any  attempt  to  use  her  influence  in 
connection  with  affairs  of  state.  This  position, 
although  one  which  was  inevitable,  carried  with  it 
also  a  certain  separation  of  the  church  from  society 
itself;  and  here  lies  in  part  the  solution  of  the  serious 
question  involved  in  the  fact  that  the  church  has, 
to  a  considerable  extent,  lost  its  hold  upon  the  people. 
Just  in  so  far  as  other  associations  of  men,  directly 
or  indirectly  connected  with  the  church,  have  come 
forward  and  associated  themselves  with  the  church 
for  the  purpose  of  improving  society  along  lines 
different  from  those  ordinarily  pursued  in  the 
churches,  in  that  proportion,  I  say,  the  church  has 
lost  an  opportunity  to  influence  civic  institutions 
as  they  stand  related  to  society,  and,  in  losing  this 
opportunity  of  influence,  has  at  the  same  time  lost 
the  opportunity  to  become  strong  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  people. 

What,  now,  is  the  ideal  toward  which  the  church 
should  move?  Shall  it  retrace  its  steps  and  again 
join  itself  to  the  state?  Never.  The  ideal  lies 
in  the  direction  of  the  present  development.  Two 
or  three  characteristics,  however,  must  be  culti- 
vated. The  church  as  such  must  become  broader 
in  its  sympathies.    I  do  not  have  in  mind  now  any 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       211 

question  of  creed  or  doctrine.  The  church  is  today- 
narrow  in  its  operations  in  the  reaction  from  its 
old  sphere,  which  included  everything.  It  has 
come  to  limit  itself  too  greatly.  The  church  may 
not  associate  itself  with  the  state,  but  it  may  asso- 
ciate itself  with  society  and  permeate  society  with 
the  spirit  of  its  founder — the  spirit  of  Christ.  The 
church  must  give  up  its  exclusiveness.  The  mass 
of  the  laboring  class  feel  kindly  toward  Jesus  Christ, 
but  hate  the  church.  We  may  say  that  they  are 
not  justified  in  this;  we  must,  however,  deal  with 
the  fact.  The  church  has  ahenated  Hkewise  the 
wealthy  class,  and  is  rapidly  alienating  what  may 
be  called  the  intellectual  class.  Jesus'  work  and 
teaching  were  for  all  classes.  The  ideal  of  the 
church  is  a  kingdom  in  which  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ  shall  fill  the  heart  and  control  the  life  of  every 
man;  and  in  this  way  the  church  will  control  the 
state,  and  commerce,  and  letters.  Not  by  direct 
e£fort  may  it  any  longer  determine  the  poHcy  of 
nations,  but  as  the  spirit  of  Christ  fills  the  hearts 
of  men,  war,  the  usual  method  of  settHng  questions 
when  the  church  was  actually  in  control,  will  give 
place  to  arbitration.  There  is  no  direct  method  by 
which  the  church  may  seek  to  control  commerce; 
but  as  it  embraces  within  its  fold  the  hearts  and 
Uves  of  business  men,  commerce  will  put  away 
its  degrading  and  unjust  practices,  and  men  will 
deal  with  one  another  as  they  would  have  others 
deal  with  them.     Not  by  direct  effort,  nor  by  exer- 


212      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

cise  of  control,  may  the  church  sway  the  intel- 
lectual centers  of  the  country.  More  and  more 
rapidly  are  these  passing  out  from  the  hands  of  the 
church.  And,  in  the  nature  of  things,  there  exists 
no  better  reason  for  the  control  of  universities  by 
the  church  than  for  the  control  of  the  state  by  the 
church.  In  both  cases  such  control  is  external, 
alien,  artificial,  and  injurious.  The  only  power 
for  the  determination  of  the  poHcy  of  the  university 
and  the  only  power  for  the  determination  of  the 
policy  of  a  nation  must  come  from  within  and  not 
from  without.  Here  again  the  ideal  of  the  church 
in  such  relationship  shall  be  the  control  of  the 
individual  mind  and  heart.  And  the  work  of  each 
church  in  the  great  system  will  be  to  reach  out  in 
the  spirit  of  Christ  and  to  touch  man — every  man 
within  its  reach;  in  every  phase  of  the  activity  of 
life;  in  every  function  which  man  is  called  upon  to 
perform;  in  every  duty  to  his  fellow- men  which  rests 
upon  him.  In  this  way  the  churches  will  come  into 
living  contact  with  civic  institutions  on  every  side, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  with  the  great  industrial 
and  business  world,  for  the  conduct  of  which  these 
civic  institutions  have  been  estabhshed;  and,  still 
further,  with  the  great  centers  of  intellectual  work 
and  research  in  which  the  world's  leaders  are  pre- 
pared and  in  which  progressive  thought  in  every 
Une  is  cultivated. 

The  church,  in  the  past,  has  done  its  work,  for 
the  most  part,  from  without  and  not  from  within. 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       213 

It  is  now  beginning  to  adopt  the  latter  policy,  not 
from  choice  but  from  compulsion.  Henceforth 
it  is  to  deal,  not  with  institutions  of  government, 
or  institutions  of  commerce,  or  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, but  with  the  individuals  who  have  to  do  with 
these  institutions.  The  preacher's  work  now  be- 
comes a  different  kind.  In  the  past  his  work 
has  been  to  assert  the  authority  of  the  church,  or 
the  authority  of  the  creed.  His  work  in  the  past 
has  been  to  deal  with  man  en  masses  and  to  deal 
with  institutions  as  such.  In  his  capacity  as  a 
representative  of  the  church  it  was  his  function 
first  of  all  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
institutions  of  the  church,  but  as  these  were  insep- 
arably connected  with  those  of  the  state,  his  influence 
and  concern  included  both. 

Today,  however,  the  preacher's  concern  with 
civic  institutions  is  very  shght.  Adopting  the 
poUcy  of  the  church  itself,  he  has  become  largely 
indifferent.  If  a  preacher  enters  prominently  into  the 
arena  of  pubHc  affairs,  he  is  regarded  by  his  fellow- 
preachers  as  seeking  notoriety;  by  the  pubHc  at  large, 
as  abandoning  his  proper  work.  He  is  almost  en- 
tirely cut  off  from  participating  in  pubhc  hfe  outside 
the  narrow  lines  of  his  profession.  Of  many  of  the 
privileges  belonging  to  the  ordinary  citizen  he  is  de- 
prived, and  some  of  the  duties  he  may  not  perform. 
He  does  not  hold  office.  How  rare  an  event  it  is  for 
a  minister  of  the  gospel  to  be  elected  to  the  governor- 
ship of  a  state  or  to  membership  in  Congress!     In 


214      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

the  larger  municipalities  he  may  not  even  become 
a  member  of  the  board  of  education,  where  one 
would  think  he  might  render  service  of  a  most 
valuable  character.  For  some  reason  or  other, 
any  attempt  on  his  part  to  move  outside  the  Hues 
which  modem  sentiment  has  created  renders  him 
liable  to  the  suspicion  of  entertaining  a  desire  to  exer- 
cise influence  in  favor  of  his  peculiar  ecclesiastical 
ideas.  As  in  the  affairs  of  state,  so  it  is  even  in 
education.  At  one  time,  in  order  to  be  a  candidate 
for  the  presidency  of  an  institution  of  learning  one 
had  to  be  an  ordained  minister.  Today  it  is  almost 
impossible  for  an  ordained  minister  to  be  considered 
in  connection  with  the  office  of  president  in  any  of 
the  larger  institutions.  Only  recently  the  tradition 
of  two  centuries  was  broken  at  Yale — broken  at 
the  command  of  pubhc  sentiment  by  a  board  of 
trustees  the  majority  of  whom  were  ministers. 
Now  it  is  sufficient  if  the  board  of  trustees  of  many 
of  our  institutions  has  in  its  membership  a  single  min- 
ister. With  regard  to  the  pubhc  affairs  which  are  con- 
nected closely  with  our  civic  institutions,  the  message 
to  the  minister  of  today  is  "hands  off."  There 
is,  of  course,  a  reason  for  this.  Nothing  happens 
except  for  cause.  The  pubhc's  attitude  of  mind  is 
the  result  of  the  feehng  that  the  minister,  in  affairs 
of  state  and  in  affairs  of  education,  is  narrow. 
An  editorial  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post  a  short 
time  since  put  it  that,  if  a  minister  is  to  be  a  candidate 
for  such  a  position,  he  must  be  larger  than  his  pro- 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       215 

fession;  that,  in  other  words,  he  is  not  prepared  to 
undertake  the  responsibiHties  involved  in  this  posi- 
tion. It  is  also  the  feeling  of  the  pubhc  that  he  can- 
not be  rehed  upon  to  act  impartially  and  justly;  that, 
in  other  words,  he  will  be  governed  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  by  ties  of  ecclesiasticism.  The  minister 
himself,  on  the  other  hand,  feels,  as  he  did  not 
formerly  feel,  his  inability  to  meet  the  demands  under 
modern  conditions.  He  is  in  most  cases  willing  to 
be  called  narrow  and  to  be  narrow,  at  least  so  far  as 
this  appUes  to  the  scope  of  his  work.  This  has  all 
come  about  as  a  part  of  the  reaction  from  the  time 
when  the  clergy  was  supreme. 

The  future,  however,  will  make  greater  demands 
upon  the  minister  than  the  past  has  ever  made. 
He  will  sustain  a  closer  relationship  to  civic  affairs, 
including  commerce  and  letters,  than  that  which 
existed  even  when  the  church  was  in  absolute  control 
of  Hfe  and  thought.  The  relationship,  I  maintain, 
will  be  closer;  but  it  will  be  very  different.  The 
relationship  of  mother  and  child  is  very  close;  so 
formerly  was  that  of  ecclesiasticism  and  poHtics. 
The  relationship  of  man  and  wife  is  still  closer;  so  will 
be  that  of  the  minister  and  our  civic  institutions.  This 
relationship,  though  very  close,  will  not  be  a  direct 
one;  the  minister  must  stand  in  touch,  not  with  the 
institutions  themselves,  but  with  the  individuals, 
one  by  one,  who  enter  into  and  constitute  these 
institutions;  that  is,  individuals  serving  in  every 
relationship  of  life.    In  order  to  be  the  adviser  of 


2i6      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

the  workingman,  he  must  be  familiar  with  the 
workingman's  point  of  view.  In  order  to  be  the 
adviser  of  the  rich  man,  he  must  be  famiHar  with 
the  rich  man's  point  of  view.  This  goes  without 
saying;  but  this  is  not  all.  To  be  the  true  adviser 
of  the  rich  man,  he  must  know  most  intimately  the 
experiences,  the  feehngs,  and  the  situation  of  the 
workingman.  To  be  the  true  adviser  of  the  working- 
man,  he  must  know  the  heart,  the  purpose,  the  method 
of  the  man  possessed  of  millions.  This  is  only  an 
illustration  of  what  I  mean.  To  put  it  in  another 
form:  the  minister  who  would  help  humanity  must, 
in  the  first  place,  deal  with  individuals  one  by  one, 
and,  in  the  second  place,  he  must  know  the  civic 
conditions  in  the  midst  of  which  he  works.  Those 
conditions  he  must  influence  through  the  individuals 
with  whom  he  is  brought  into  contact.  He  must, 
like  the  apostle  of  old,  be  all  things  to  all  men. 
His  very  Ufe  as  a  minister  depends  upon  his  abiUty 
to  bring  men  into  harmony  with  their  environment, 
and  of  that  environment  the  civic  institutions  are 
the  most  tangible  expression.  The  world's  preachers, 
whatever  the  religion  they  may  have  professed, 
because  of  different  demands,  and  because  of  different 
temperaments,  have  been  either  priests,  or  prophets, 
or  sages.  In  these  days  the  situation  makes  little 
call  for  priests;  a  few  prophets  here  and  there  will 
suffice;  the  cry  that  goes  up  to  heaven  is  for  sages — 
men  who,  sitting  in  the  gates  of  the  city,  shall,  with 
a  wisdom  which  includes  the  practical  things  of  life. 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       217 

as  well  as  the  affairs  of  the  classes  and  of  the  masses, 
deal  face  to  face  and  hand  to  hand  with  life  as  it  is. 

From  what  I  have  said  the  idea  may  be  gathered 
that  the  minister  of  the  future  is  to  preach  what  is 
.sometimes  called  sociology.  This  is  the  farthest 
possible  from  my  thought.  His  function  it  is  to 
represent  God  to  men;  to  do,  in  so  far  as  he  is  able, 
just  what  Jesus  did,  and  to  do  it,  in  so  far  as  he  is 
able,  just  as  Jesus  did  it.  Did  Jesus  have  to  do 
with  the  civic  institutions  of  his  times  ?  He  was  not 
in  a  position  to  control  them,  or,  indeed,  to  influence 
them  directly;  and  yet,  by  the  words  which  he  spoke 
here  and  there,  by  the  teaching  which  he  promulgated 
through  the  Twelve,  he  eventually  overthrew  the 
institutions  which  existed  in  his  day,  and  supplanted 
them  with  others  of  a  far  different  type. 

There  are  in  this  connection  some  phases  of  our 
seminary  Ufe  and  work  which  deserve  to  be  pointed 
out,  because  they  bear  directly  upon  the  question.  I 
am  thinking  of  the  ordinary  seminary;  I  am  glad 
to  say  that  there  are  exceptions,  of  which  I  need  not 
now  speak. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  advance  which  has 
been  made  in  our  seminaries,  they  are  narrow  in 
scope  and  narrow  in  spirit.  They  do  not  include 
provision  for  instruction  in  many  of  the  departments 
of  Christian  work  which  are  only  less  important 
than  preaching  itself;  nor  for  instruction  in  preaching. 
Some  of  these  adopt  the  theory  that  the  man  who 
has  had  college  training  and  the  man  who  has  never 


2i8      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

seen  a  college  may  work  together  in  the  same  class- 
room with  equal  profit;  others  adopt  the  theory  that 
for  all  preachers,  whatever  may  be  the  field  in  which 
they  are  at  work,  the  same  training  is  necessary — 
a  theory  which  has  worked  infinite  injury  to  the 
growth  of  the  churches.  This  is  what  is  meant  by 
narrowness  in  scope.  By  narrowness  in  spirit  I 
mean  lack  of  deep  and  enthusiastic  sympathy  with 
life,  lack  of  a  strong  and  uphfting  ideaHsm,  lack  of  a 
sturdy  and  sober  optimism,  which  would  lead  men 
preparing  to  preach  to  enter  upon  their  work  with 
all  their  souls  and  in  spite  of  any  and  every  sacrifice; 
which  would  force  them,  even  against  their  will, 
into  touch  with  the  problems  of  life  as  it  exists  today 
on  every  side  of  us. 

Our  seminaries  are  more  or  less  exclusive  in  their 
spirit,  and  are  thus  perpetuating  the  old  priestly 
spirit,  which  has  so  often  wrought  ruin  both  to 
individuals  and  to  nations.  This  exclusiveness 
grows  out  of  the  methods  employed,  and  out  of  the 
kind  of  life  which  the  students  live.  In  many 
instances  it  is  due  to  delusive  ideas  entertained 
concerning  the  call  which  has  been  received  to  preach. 
Evidence  of  such  a  call,  or  belief  in  it  without 
evidence,  not  seldom  creates  in  young  men  the  spirit 
of  pride  and  exclusiveness  rather  than  that  of  humility. 
No  one  more  profoundly  than  I  can  believe  in  the 
dignified  and  lofty  character  of  the  ministerial  caUing; 
but  so  often  we  see  this  spirit  of  superiority  manifested 
that  we  are   compelled   to   ask:  Whence  does  it 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       219 

come?  And  with  this  pride  there  usually  goes  a 
spirit  of  dependence  which  is  largely  cultivated  by 
the  seminary  methods  of  furnishing  financial  assist- 
ance to  students;  and  the  combination  thus  arising 
does  much  to  prevent  any  considerable  progress 
toward  a  time  when  our  young  men  shall  be  in  a 
position  to  deal  with  the  problems  involved  in  the 
relation  of  individuals  to  civic  institutions. 

Our  seminaries  are  still  too  mediaeval  in  their 
character,  too  far  away  from  our  modern  Ufe. 
The  young  theological  student  does  not  come  into 
touch  with  hfe  by  going  out  into  the  country  and 
preaching  on  a  Sunday.  For,  in  most  cases,  the 
only  results  of  this  work  (aside  from  the  small 
remuneration  gained)  are  the  acquisition  of  bad 
habits  of  preaching,  and  the  neglect  of  regular 
seminary  work.  In  order  to  touch  life,  it  is  neces- 
sary for  the  student  during  his  career  to  give  either 
several  months  exclusively  to  practical  work,  or  a 
portion  of  every  day  of  every  week.  The  Moody 
Institute  in  Chicago,  and  similar  institutions,  are 
in  some  ways  doing  incalculable  injury  to  the 
cause  of  Christianity.  It  is  possible,  however, 
that  this  injury  may  be  in  part  counterbalanced 
by  the  good  which  is  undoubtedly  being  done  along 
the  line  of  training  in  practical  work. 

Our  seminaries,  furthermore,  do  not,  and  per- 
haps they  cannot,  train  their  students  into  knowl- 
edge of,  and  sympathy  with,  the  all-pervading 
scientific  spirit  of  the  times;  and  yet  somehow  and 


220      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

somewhere,  if  the  minister  is  to  put  himself  in  a 
position  to  deal  with  modern  life  as  it  enters  into 
civic  institutions,  this  spirit  must  be  cherished. 

There  is  another  respect  in  which  our  semina- 
ries are  seriously  defective.  Society  is  to  the 
prospective  minister  what  the  human  body  is  to 
the  prospective  physician.  And  yet  of  psychology 
in  its  modern  aspect,  and  of  the  elementary  princi- 
ples of  economic  structure,  the  average  theological 
student  is  almost  entirely  ignorant.  These  studies, 
for  the  theological  student,  correspond  to  the  anatomy 
and  physiology  and  pathology  of  the  human  body 
of  which  the  medical  student  must  have  knowledge 
in  order  to  do  his  work.  As  a  mental  discipline  the 
curriculum  of  our  theological  seminary  may  be  the 
best  possible;  but  it  cannot  lay  claim  to  be  the  best 
for  the  practical  training  of  men  for  a  technical 
profession.  It  deals  too  much  with  the  past,  and 
does  riot  make  practical  application  to  the  situation 
of  the  present.  And  so  it  comes  that  our  semina- 
ries are  much  like  a  medical  school  in  which  no 
provision  should  be  made  for  the  study  of  anatomy 
or  physiology  or  psychology. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  question :  What  should 
be  the  seminary's  concern  in  reference  to  those 
institutions  of  government  and  of  society  which  have 
for  their  function  the  administration  of  the  affairs 
of  society,  including  the  great  industrial  system, 
and  enter  into  and  compose  society  ?  If  the  church 
is  concerned,  and  if  the  preacher  is  to  have  concern. 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       221 

it  follows  at  once  that  the  seminary  should  have  as 
its  deepest  concern  the  adjustment  of  its  training 
to  this  end. 

If  the  preacher  is  to  tell  the  rich  man  how  he  is 
to  deal  with  the  laboring-man,  he  must  know  from 
actual  contact,  something  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
laboring-man  and  the  injustice  to  which  he  is  being 
subjected.  If,  in  turn,  he  is  to  tell  the  laboring-man 
how  he  should  feel  toward  the  capitajist,  the  preacher 
must  have  learned  something  of  the  great  laws  of 
commerce  and  of  the  principles  which  underlie 
society  in  its  present  complication.  If  he  is  to  advise 
the  office-holder,  he  surely  must  know  something 
in  detail  of  the  institutions  which  control  the  various 
activities  of  life.  If  he  is  to  be  a  leader,  he  must, 
in  a  word,  receive  the  training  necessary  for  leader- 
ship. The  seminary  is  responsible  for  furnishing 
such  a  training.  There  have  been  some  instances 
of  men  going  into  the  ministry  after  having  taken  a 
course  of  study  in  law.  The  almost  uniform  suc- 
cess of  such  men  points  in  the  direction  I  have 
indicated. 

These  few  and  scattering  statements  I  have 
meant  as  a  basis  for  a  few  suggestions  as  to  how 
the  seminary  may  discharge  its  responsibility  in  this 
matter,  and  for  a  few  specific  propositions  as  to 
how  these  suggestions  might  be  carried  out.  It  is 
true,  of  course,  that  what  remains  to  be  said  has 
already  been  said  by  way  of  anticipation. 

The  first  duty  of  the  seminary,  then,  would  seem 


222      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

to  be  to  inculcate  more  generally,  more  deeply,  and 
more  constantly  the  spirit  of  democracy.  Our 
institutions  are  democratic  institutions.  The  man 
whose  heart  is  not  thoroughly  controlled  by  the 
democratic  spirit  cannot  appreciate  them.  The 
church  always  has  been,  and  is  today,  essentially 
aristocratic.  The  failure  of  the  churches  to  reach 
the  masses  is  due  to  the  feeling  on  the  part  of  the 
masses,  whether  right  or  wrong,  that  the  church  is 
today,  as  it  has  largely  been  in  the  past,  on  the  side 
of  kings  and  the  rich.  If  the  Christian  church  is  to 
hold  its  influence  in  this  and  other  democratic 
countries,  its  spirit  and  its  methods  must  largely 
change. 

There  must  be  presented  to  the  theological  stu- 
dent the  great  problems  of  democracy.  Democracy's 
principles  have  not  as  yet  been  formulated.  Nor  can 
they  be  formulated  until  some  of  the  problems  have 
been  solved.  But  the  problems  of  democracy  cannot 
be  solved  without  the  light  which  Jesus'  teaching 
sheds  upon  them.  It  is  the  Christian  minister  and 
the  Christian  student,  properly  equipped,  to  whom 
we  must  look  for  the  solution  of  the  difficulties  which 
now  beset  us.  Today  many  of  our  ministers  and 
teachers  do  not  even  know  of  the  existence  of  these 
problems,  and  yet  they  enter  upon  their  mission  with 
the  belief  that  God  is  directing  their  work.  God 
may  use  the  ignorant  to  accomplish  his  service,  but 
he  never  does  so  from  choice. 

The  seminary  must  bring  its  students  into  touch 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       223 

with  the  people,  and  especially  with  the  people  who, 
to  use  their  own  phrase,  **  have  no  use  for  the  church." 
It  is  pitiable  that  men  should  be  brought  up  to  the 
point  of  entering  upon  their  ministerial  work  without 
having  jostled  against  the  great,  unbelieving  masses 
of  humanity  on  every  side  of  them.  Preaching  in 
country  churches  does  not  furnish  this  training. 
Reading  the  lectures  of  Robert  Ingersoll  does  not. 
One  must  feel  it  directly  and  for  himself,  by  seeing 
it  as  it  is  embodied  in  the  rotten  filthiness  of  whole 
communities,  in  the  stale  corruption  of  whole  classes, 
in  the  blasphemous  utterances  which  almost  stifle 
him  who  hears  them. 

The  seminary  student  should,  then,  for  a  time  at 
least,  live  in  the  midst  of  the  misery  and  wretchedness 
of  the  poor.  This  will  open  his  eyes  and  open 
his  heart  to  the  deep  and  murderous  cry  of  a  dejected 
and  desperate  humanity.  Will  such  an  experience 
be  of  service  to  a  man  who  is  to  occupy  a  country 
pulpit?  It  matters  not  where  his  work  is  to  be 
done;  the  life  of  Jesus  will  never  be  understood  by 
one  who  has  not,  with  his  own  eyes,  seen  the  woes 
of  poverty  and  crime. 

An  experience  of  perhaps  equal  value  is  life  on 
the  frontier,  where  one  may  learn  the  natural  ten- 
dencies of  the  human  heart  when  the  restrictions  of 
society  have  been  removed — a  knowledge  very 
necessary  to  the  man  who  is  to  guide  those  who  have 
fallen  by  the  way. 

Some  adequate  method  must  also  be  devised  for 


224      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

the  education  of  men  who  will  work  among  the 
lower  classes.  A  few  ministers  grow  up  to  the  point 
which  makes  it  possible  for  them  to  work  among 
the  wealthy  classes.  Very  few  find  themselves  able 
to  work  with  satisfaction  or  with  effect  among  the 
masses.  The  well- trained  man  not  only  cannot  do 
such  work — he  will  not  do  it.  How  shall  it  be  done  ? 
Here  is  where  the  aristocratic  spirit  manifests  itself: 
leave  it  for  the  Salvation  Army,  or  pay  the  salary 
of  a  few  men  who  will  make  a  pretense  of  doing  it 
for  the  sake  of  the  pay.  This  is  a  problem  of 
democracy,  a  problem  of  the  church,  which  the 
seminary  must  solve,  or  dire  destruction  awaits 
not  only  church,  but  country.  We  need  hundreds 
of  Edward  Judsons  and  Graham  Taylors. 

The  seminary  student  must  study  and  know  the 
pubHc-school  system  and  must  supplement  that 
system.  It  is  difficult  to  foretell  the  outcome  of 
another  fifty  years  of  our  educational  system — a 
system  which  trains  the  mind,  but,  for  the  most 
part,  leaves  the  moral  side  untouched;  no  religion, 
no  ethics,  merely  a  sharpening  of  the  intellect. 
The  Roman  Catholics  meet  this  difficulty;  our 
Protestant  churches  seem  utterly  to  ignore  it.  A 
blind  faith  that  the  Sunday  school  will  do  what  the 
public  schools  do  not  do,  leads  us  to  lose  sight  of  a 
peril  as  deadly  as  any  that  confronts  us. 

Let  the  spirit  of  independence  rather  than  that  of 
dependence  be  cultivated  among  our  seminary 
students.    There  is  a  kind  of  dependence  even  on 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       225 

God  which  is  culpable.  Some  call  this  faith.  It 
is  rather  superstitious  indolence,  and  is  deadening 
to  any  true  activity.  The  old  fashion  of  dependence 
upon  the  state  for  maintenance  still  lingers  among 
us.  Let  it  be  cast  aside,  and  instead  of  it  let  us 
cherish  the  spirit  which  underlies  all  our  demo- 
cratic institutions,  the  spirit  of  honest,  earnest  effort ; 
the  spirit  which  enters  into  and  constitutes  the  true 
life.  Let  us  carry  others'  burdens;  but  let  us  not 
ask  others  to  carry  ours.  This  is  the  spirit  of 
democracy. 

My  second  suggestion  is  one  not  so  easy  to  pre- 
sent. It  is  that  in  our  seminaries  we  inculcate  a 
new  doctrine  of  the  church,  and  of  the  church's  min- 
istry. I  do  not  flatter  myself  that  I  can  formulate 
this  new  doctrine.  Its  formulation  will  go  hand  in 
hand  with  that  of  the  principles  of  democracy. 
Such  a  formulation  may  be  expected  within  the  next 
half-century.  Meanwhile  we  may  be  making  effort 
to  gain  the  merest  glimpses  of  it.  The  church,  I 
maintain,  has  not  yet  adjusted  itself  to  the  new 
environment.  The  old  idea  of  the  church  and  of 
church  methods  will  not  answer  today  and  tomorrow. 
It  is  something  too  stiff,  too  far  away,  and,  as  has 
been  said,  too  narrow.  But  you  ask  me  to  say 
what  it  should  be.  I  can  only  grope,  as  in  the 
dark,  toward  an  ideal,  some  aspects  of  which,  here 
and  there,  already  begin  to  show  themselves. 

It  should  be  taught  and  practiced  that  the  church 
has  responsibility  as  great  for  those  outside  its  fold 


226      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

as  for  those  within.  For,  though  this  may  be  our 
present  theory,  we  do  not  adopt  it  as  a  working 
basis.  The  functions  of  most  churches  are  largely 
restricted  to  caring  for  their  own  church  member- 
ship. If  it  would  assist  in  overcoming  this  evil,  I, 
for  one,  could  wish  that  the  ostensible  lines  of  sepa- 
ration between  the  member  and  the  non-member 
might  be  ignored. 

It  should  be  taught,  furthermore,  that  the  great 
denominations  of  Christians  have  in  these  days 
nothing  essential  to  separate  them — that  denomina- 
tional connection  is  largely  (not  wholly)  a  matter  of 
historical  accident,  or  a  matter  of  temperament; 
that  in  every  case  co-operation  of  the  forces  of  all 
denominations  is  desirable,  and  that  in  many  cases 
it  is  feasible.  Denominationalism  is  a  necessity; 
it  is,  in  fact,  a  thing  desirable;  but  let  us  minimize 
its  weaknesses  and  magnify  its  points  of  advantage. 
This  will  have  a  distinct  influence  in  preparing  the 
way  for  the  church  to  exert  an  influence  on  the  outer 
world. 

Let  us  teach,  also,  that  the  church  has  something 
to  do  with  all  the  activities  of  a  normal  life.  This 
must  be  true,  if  the  church  is  intended  to  represent 
the  spirit  of  Jesus.  There  is  no  moment  of  life,  no 
event  of  life,  in  which  and  with  which  its  influence 
should  not  be  felt.  The  various  forms  of  recreation 
and  amusement  afford  as  legitimate  a  field  for  the 
ministers'  work  as  the  deathbed;  and  it  is  a  field  in 
which  a  deal  more  can  be  accomplished  for  humanity. 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       227 

The  church  is  just  as  much  concerned  with  the  intel- 
lectual progress  of  its  constituents  as  with  the  moral 
progress.    It  has  concern,  also,  with  the  physical  side. 

Let  us  teach,  too,  that  the  church  through  its 
ministers  should,  therefore,  take  up  any  and  all 
agencies  which  make  for  the  betterment  of  mankind. 
Jesus  was  a  healer  of  the  body  as  well  as  of  the  soul. 
The  multitude  of  outside  agencies  now  engaged  in 
humanitarian  work  are  sucking  the  very  life-blood 
of  the  church.  Here,  again,  the  Roman  Catholics 
have  shown  a  greater  wisdom  than  the  Protestants; 
for  with  them  these  agencies  are,  in  nearly  every  case, 
those  of  the  church. 

Let  us  teach  that  the  minister's  work  is  not 
merely  that  of  preaching.  Nine-tenths  of  the  semi- 
nary work  is  based  upon  this  idea.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  preaching  should  not  constitute  one-tenth  of 
his  work.  What  the  minister  says  out  of  the  pulpit 
is  more  important  than  what  he  says  in  it.  We  do 
not  stand  in  need  of  preaching,  as  men  once  did; 
not  because  we  are  better,  but  because  the  agencies 
for  preaching  have  been  so  multiplied;  the  daily 
papers,  the  magazines,  the  books,  lecture  courses, 
and  even  the  theater,  all  furnish  sermons — some  of 
them  vastly  better  than  any  we  hear  preached  from 
the  pulpit.  The  minister  should  recognize  this 
fact,  and  by  personal  hand-to-hand  work  drive  home 
the  application  of  these  sermons.  Why  is  it  so 
difficult  for  the  minister  to  get  an  audience  ?  Be- 
cause in  these  days  an  average  audience  is  made  up 


228      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  people  of  so  many  tastes  and  temperaments,  so 
many  grades  of  intellectual  advancement,  so  many 
different  ages,  that  the  same  sermon  will  not  meet 
their  needs.  This  is  the  day  of  specialism,  and  in 
most  churches  of  three  hundred  communicants  there 
are  at  least  six  different  classes  of  people  who  need 
special  preaching.  I  have  sometimes  thought  that 
the  seminar  method,  if  it  could  be  adapted  to  pulpit 
and  church  work,  would  be  desirable.  The  minis- 
ter must  be  an  organizer.  Let  us  teach  him  in  the 
seminary  how  to  organize  and  what  to  organize; 
and  in  this  work  of  organization,  of  using  to  the 
best  advantage  every  man  and  woman  within  his 
reach,  will  be  found  the  best  method  of  doing  work 
in  behalf  of  our  civic  institutions. 

Let  us,  above  all,  endeavor  to  arouse  in  the 
seminary  student  the  right  spirit,  the  right  attitude 
of  mind  toward  all  these  outside  influences,  which 
are  legitimately  the  possession  of  the  church,  the 
relinquishment  of  which  has  already  cost  the  church 
so  dearly;  the  spirit  of  inclusiveness,  instead  of 
exclusiveness ;  the  spirit  of  aggression,  instead  of 
timidity;  the  spirit  which  grows  out  of  the  idea  that 
God  is  the  Father  of  all  men,  and  that,  therefore, 
the  church  should  be  all  things  to  all  men.  Let  us 
train  our  seminary  students  to  be  sages,  not  priests ; 
to  stand  where  men  may  be  found,  and  quietly,  as 
brother  with  brother,  to  describe  to  them  one  by 
one  the  path  of  life;  what  to  do,  what  not  to  do;  the 
iduties  of  life,  the  worth  of  character.     Let  us  train 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       229 

them  to  be  sages,  not  prophets.  A  few  will  be 
prophets  without  training,  and  these  few  will  suffice. 
The  church  needs  most,  not  the  man  who  by  his 
eloquence  can  move  the  multitudes,  but  the  man 
who  by  his  life  and  words  can  save  the  individual; 
and  by  salvation  I  mean,  not  a  deliverance  from 
Hades,  but  the  perfecting  of  life.  The  entire  num- 
ber of  prophets  from  the  beginning  has  been  few; 
the  number  of  sincere,  earnest  teachers  or  sages 
has  been  legion.  Jesus  was  more  of  a  sage  than  a 
prophet.  It  is  the  work  of  the  sage  that  will  bring 
the  church  into  the  right  relationship  with  our  civic 
institutions,  not  that  of  the  priest  or  prophet. 

My  third  and  last  suggestion  is  that  the  formal 
curriculum  of  the  theological  seminary  should  be 
modified  in  such  manner  as  to  bring  it  into  adjust- 
ment with  the  new  situation.  If,  now,  there  has 
been  no  change  in  the  situation,  the  ground  for 
modification  does  not  exist.  But  no  one  will  deny 
that  democracy  within  fifty  or  sixty  years  has  under- 
gone great  change;  that  education  itself  in  every 
phase  has  been  revolutionized;  that  the  world  of 
commerce  today  is  a  totally  different  world,  in  its 
methods  and  in  its  entire  character,  from  the  world 
of  half  a  century  ago.  The  curriculum  of  the 
medical  school  has  changed;  so  has  that  of  the  law 
school,  though  not  to  so  great  an  extent.  So  far 
as  I  know,  the  only  professional  curriculum  which 
is  essentially  the  same  as  it  was  fifty  years  ago  is 
that  of  the  theological  seminary. 


230      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

I  venture  to  propose,  therefore,  that  psychology 
and  pedagogy  be  introduced,  and  that  the  instruc- 
tion be  adapted  to  the  point  of  view  of  the  min- 
ister. 

The  fundamental  relation  existing  between  psy- 
chology and  all  other  sciences  has  been  well  set  forth 
by  a  recent  writer  in  the  following  paragraph : 

Psychology  takes  the  central  place  in  the  thought  of  our 
time,  and  overflows  into  all  channels  of  our  life.  It  began 
with  an  analysis  of  simple  ideas  and  feelings,  and  it  has  devel- 
oped into  an  insight  into  the  mechanism  of  the  highest  acts 
and  emotions,  thoughts  and  creations.  It  started  by  studying 
the  mental  organization  of  the  individual,  and  it  has  rushed 
forward  to  the  psychical  organization  of  society,  to  social 
psychology,  to  the  psychology  of  art  and  science,  religion  and 
language,  history  and  law.  It  started  in  the  narrow  circles  of 
the  philosophers,  and  it  is  now  at  home  wherever  mental  life 
is  touched.  The  historian  strives  today  for  psychological 
explanation,  the  economist  for  psychological  laws;  jurispru- 
dence looks  on  the  criminal  from  a  psychological  standpoint; 
medicine  emphasizes  the  psychological  value  of  its  assistance; 
the  biologist  mixes  psychology  in  his  theories  of  evolution. 
From  the  nursery  to  the  university,  from  the  hospital  to  the 
court  of  justice,  from  the  theater  to  the  church,  from  the 
parlor  to  the  parliament,  the  new  influence  of  psychology  on 
the  real  daily  life  is  felt  in  this  country  as  in  Europe,  producing 
new  hopes  and  new  fears,  new  schemes  and  new  responsi- 
bilities. 

Much  might  be  said  for  pedagogy,  which  is, 
after  all,  only  an  appHcation  of  psychology.  Do 
we  not  realize  that  in  all  work,  whether  for  church 
or  for  country,  the  largest  returns  come  from  doing 
the  work  with  children.    Here  again  we  may  take 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       231 

lessons  of  wisdom  from  Roman  Catholicism.  But 
now  this  work,  at  least  in  its  technical  appHcations 
to  the  work  of  the  university,  must  be  done  in  the 
seminary  or  left  undone. 

The  seminaries  should  give  instruction  in  the 
principles  of  economic  structure.  It  is  impossible 
for  the  minister  to  preach  ethics  for  this  day  and 
generation  without  touching  at  every  turn  the  laws 
of  society.  Jesus  did  it,  and  so  therefore  must 
Jesus'  followers  do  it.  It  is  very  largely  the  minister's 
ignorance  of  these  matters,  and  his  utterances 
involving  this  ignorance,  which  are  driving  the 
business  man  away  from  the  churches.  But  here, 
as  before,  the  instruction  offered  must  be  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  preacher,  not  merely  general 
information  without  special  appHcation. 

Let  us  furnish  our  students  a  better,  deeper, 
more  comprehensive  idea  of  the  Bible  and  the 
growth  of  the  Bible  doctrine  than  we  have  done  in 
the  past;  and  to  this  end,  if  it  is  necessary,  let  us 
give  up  some  of  the  language  work  which  has  served 
as  the  bSte  noire  of  the  average  theological  student. 
The  principles  which  regulate  all  hfe  and  all  kinds 
of  Ufe  are  found  here;  and  here  we  should  lay  a  far 
greater  emphasis  than  we  are  accustomed  to  do. 
The  historical  study  of  the  truth  as  it  has  been 
revealed  through  the  passing  centuries  is  in  itself 
the  greatest  and  most  efficient  preparation  for  deaHng 
with  the  civic  institutions  of  our  day. 

If  time  permitted,  I  should  like  to  point  out  how 


232      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

in  this  particular  the  Old  Testament  has  some 
advantages  over  the  New.  In  an  address  of  George 
Adam  Smith,  given  some  years  ago,  this  was  his 
theme.  The  Old  Testament  shows  us  God  in 
touch  with  the  nation;  the  New  Testament,  God  in 
touch  with  the  individual.  In  a  true  sense  the 
New  does  not  supplant  the  Old;  it  merely  supple- 
ments it.  But  I  must  omit  much  that  I  had  wished 
to  say. 

The  propositions  which  I  have  endeavored  to 
state  are  in  substance  these: 

1.  The  church  has  work  to  do  for,  and  in  con- 
nection with,  our  civic  institutions — a  work  of  the 
most  imperative  character. 

2.  The  minister  who  leads  the  church  will  do 
the  work  by  close  and  vital  contact  with  those 
institutions;  and  here  I  include  industrial  institu- 
tions and  institutions  of  learning  as  themselves  a 
part  of  the  great  civic  system. 

3.  The  seminaries  must  open  their  eyes  to  the 
fact  that  they  are  in  a  new  environment — an  environ- 
ment which  makes  demands  very  different  from 
those  made  thirty,  forty,  and  fifty  years  ago.  They 
must  also  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  they  are  in 
large  measure  responsible  for  the  amount  and  kind 
of  work  which  the  church  will  do. 

4.  The  seminaries  must  receive  a  new  baptism; 
this  time,  a  baptism  of  the  spirit  of  democracy 
which,  I  make  bold  to  say,  is  one  expression  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  itself. 


CIVIC  RELATIONSHIP  OF  SEMINARY       233 

5.  The  seminaries  must  inculcate  a  new  teaching 
of  the  scope  and  function  of  church  work;  a  teaching 
based,  without  question,  on  bibHcal  warrant;  a 
teaching  which  shall  make  it  no  longer  possible  for 
the  church  to  stand  still  and  see  itself  drained  of 
its  life-blood. 

6.  The  seminaries  must  prepare  the  proposed 
minister  for  the  work  which  will  fall  to  his  lot  under 
this  new  situation;  they  must,  if  necessary,  omit 
certain  work,  good  in  itself,  but  not  so  necessary 
as  the  work  which  the  times  demand. 


XIV 

SHALL  THE  THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM 
BE  MODIFIED,  AND  HOW? 

Many  intelligent  laymen  in  the  churches  have 
the  feeling  that  the  training  provided  for  the  students 
in  the  theological  seminary  does  not  meet  the  require- 
ments of  modern  times.  These  men  base  their 
judgment  upon  what  they  see  in  connection  with 
the  work  of  the  minister  who  has  been  trained  in  the 
seminary.  Nor  is  this  disaffection  restricted  to 
the  laity.  Ministers  who,  after  receiving  this  train- 
ing, have  entered  upon  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
and  ought,  therefore,  to  be  competent  judges,  are 
frequently  those  who  speak  most  strongly  against 
the  adequacy  and  the  adaptation  of  the  present 
methods  in  the  seminary.  So  prevalent  is  this 
feeling  that  students  for  the  ministry  often  ask  the 
question,  "Is  there  not  some  way  of  making  prepara- 
tion other  than  through  the  seminary  ? ''  Not  a  few 
men  are  securing  this  preparation  by  taking  graduate 
courses  in  the  universities ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
some  prefer  to  adopt  the  so-called  short-course 
plan. 

The  condition  of  the  churches,  both  rural  and 
urban,  is  not  upon  the  whole  encouraging.  Ministers 
of  the  better  class  are  not  satisfied  to  accept  the  rural 
.     .  234 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  235 

churches;  and  yet  these  same  ministers  are  not 
strong  enough,  or  sufficiently  prepared,  to  meet  the 
demands  of  many  of  the  city  churches.  The  rivalry 
of  denominations  has  led  to  the  multiplication  of 
churches,  and  in  turn  church  abandonment  in  some 
sections  of  the  country  is  being  substituted  for  church 
building.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to 
consider  the  occasion  of  this  condition  of  things  in 
the  churches.  At  the  same  time  it  is  probably  true 
that,  whatever  may  be  the  occasion,  the  ministry  is 
in  some  measure  responsible;  for  we  are  compelled 
to  beHeve  that,  with  better  organization  and  more 
efficient  administration,  this  condition  of  things 
would  not  exist.  But  now,  if  the  ministers  are  in 
any  measure  responsible,  the  theological  seminary 
in  which  they  receive  their  training  must  bear  the 
brunt  of  the  reproach,  for,  surely,  the  ministers  are 
very  largely  what  the  theological  seminary  makes 
them.  Their  ideals,  their  equipment,  and  their  spirit 
are  the  product  of  the  seminary. 

The  model  in  accordance  with  which  the  modern 
theological  seminaries  have  been  organized  had  its 
origin  a  century  or  more  ago ;  but  though  the  environ- 
ment of  the  seminary  has  utterly  changed  during 
this  century,  the  seminary  itself  has  remained  prac- 
tically at  a  standstill.  To  say  the  least,  there  are 
to  be  found  in  its  organization  and  curriculum 
many  survivals  from  the  oldest  times.  These  sur- 
vivals are  out  of  harmony  with  the  whole  situation 
as  it  exists  today.    These  elements,  therefore,  do 


236      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

not  suit  the  present  situation.  It  is  not  enough 
merely  to  say  that  they  occasion  a  waste  of  time  and 
energy.  In  fact,  they  do  distinct  injury  to  everything 
with  which  they  come  into  close  relationship,  and, 
what  is  of  greater  importance,  they  take  the  time 
and  attention  which  something  stronger  and  better 
ought  to  occupy. 

Assuming,  without  further  argument,  then,  that 
the  curriculum  of  the  seminary  should  be  modified, 
there  would  seem  to  be  two  general  principles  in 
accordance  with  which  such  modifications  should  be 
made,  and  these  should  be  considered  before  pre- 
senting a  recommendation  of  specific  changes. 

The  first  is  that  modifications  of  the  curriculum 
should  accord  with  the  assured  results  of  modern 
psychology  and  pedagogy,  as  well  as  with  the  de- 
mands which  have  been  made  apparent  by  our  com- 
mon experience,  so  far  as  this  experience  relates  to 
the  student  and  the  preparation  for  his  work.  If  this 
principle  were  adopted,  certain  ends  would  always 
be  held  in  mind  by  those  who  deal  with  the  theological 
curriculum. 

An  effort  would  be  made  so  to  adjust  the  work 
of  the  seminary  as  to  render  it  attractive  to  the  best 
men.  Much  has  been  said  about  the  small  number 
of  men  in  our  college  classes  who  enter  the  ministry. 
Much  more  might  be  said  as  to  the  quality  of  these 
men,  when  compared  with  the  men  who  enter  the 
other  professions  and  occupations.  This  difficulty, 
of  course,  cannot  be  charged  wholly  to  the  character 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  237 

of  the  instruction  offered  in  the  seminary,  since  it 
stands  connected  also  with  the  profession  itself. 
But  actual  observation  shows  that  the  curriculum 
of  the  seminary  has  something  to  do  with  the  matter, 
since  many  of  the  better  men  seem  to  think  that  a 
satisfactory  preparation  may  be  secured  in  some 
other  way. 

The  curriculum  should  be  of  such  a  character 
as  to  give  the  training  best  adapted  to  the  individual 
taste  and  capacity  of  the  student.  The  field  of 
theological  study  is  a  broad  one.  No  man  can 
cover  all  or  even  a  large  portion  of  it.  The  interest 
of  some  men  will  be  aroused  more  easily  in  one  line 
of  work  than  in  another.  Some  phases  of  the  work 
required  are  very  distasteful  to  many  men.  To 
spend  time  on  such  work  is  for  these  men  a  waste. 
It  is,  moreover,  injurious  to  the  student.  Theo- 
logical students  are  supposed  to  be  men  of  maturity. 
Beyond  a  general  and  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  the  Scriptures,  it  is  not  necessary  that  all  should 
have  the  same  training.  It  is  important,  indeed, 
that  men  should  be  trained  along  different  lines. 
What  is  helpful  to  one  man  may  be  injurious  to 
another.  In  a  field  characterized  by  such  variety, 
advantage  may  well  be  taken  of  the  opportunity 
thus  offered. 

An  effort  should,  furthermore,  be  made  to  give 
the  student  that  particular  training  which  will 
enable  him  to  grow  stronger  and  stronger  in  future 
years.     It  is  an  unfortunate  fact  that  a  large  pro- 


238      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

portion  of  men  who  enter  the  ministry  begin  to  lose 
intellectual  strength  from  the  moment  they  leave 
the  seminary.  In  some  cases  this  probably  could 
not  be  prevented  in  any  way,  but  in  many  cases  it 
is  due  to  the  wrong  training  which  the  student  re- 
ceived while  in  the  seminary.  In  other  words,  the 
seminary  is  not  a  place  in  which  men  are  to  learn 
certain  views,  or  to  receive  and  adopt  certain  opin- 
ions. It  is  rather  a  place  in  which  men  shall  be 
taught  to  think.  It  is  unfair  that  the  student,  who 
spends  his  time  and  money  for  a  specific  thing, 
should  receive  in  return,  not  what  will  prove  to  be 
a  proper  equipment,  but  instead  something,  the 
real  nature  of  which  years  of  pastoral  experience 
may  be  required  to  show.  In  planning  the  work 
of  the  seminary,  this,  then,  should  be  kept  in  mind: 
the  student  is  beginning  a  work  that  will  continue 
through  many  years.  Every  hour  of  the  curriculum 
should  be  arranged  with  the  sole  purpose  of  furnish- 
ing that  training  which  will  render  him  more  efficient 
as  the  years  go  by.  With  such  training,  men  will 
not  be  compelled  to  leave  the  pulpit  at  the  age  of 
forty-five  or  fifty.  They  will  be  stronger  at  sixty 
than  at  thirty-five.     Is  this  the  case  today? 

That  training  is  demanded  which  upon  the 
whole  will  best  adapt  the  individual  to  his  environ- 
ment. This  makes  necessary  a  study  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  likewise  a  study  of  the  environment. 
It  is  important  that  the  instructor  should  study  his 
student,  and  it  is  equally  important  that  the  student 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  239 

should  study  his  environment.  Failure  in  most 
cases  is  simply  inability  to  adjust  one's  self  to  his 
environment.  Education  should  have  for  its  first 
aim  the  establishment  of  such  an  adjustment. 

But  this  suggests  the  second  principle  in  accord- 
ance with  which  such  modifications  must  be  made. 
Modifications  of  the  curriculum  should  be  of  such 
a  nature  as  to  meet  the  demands  suggested  by  the 
character  of  the  field  in  which  the  student  is  to 
work — the  demands,  in  other  words,  which  in  general 
concern  the  present  state  of  society  in  the  midst  of 
which  the  student  finds  himself.  Here,  again,  cer- 
tain conclusions  are  immediately  apparent. 

In  the  first  place,  the  training  of  the  theological 
student  should  be  adjusted  to  the  modern  demo- 
cratic situation.  Real  democracy  is  not  a  century 
old.  The  atmosphere  of  the  present  day  is  essentially 
different  from  the  atmosphere  of  our  grandfathers. 
Even  fifty  years  ago  men  did  not  dream  of  the  devel- 
opment which  was  to  come,  nor  of  the  results  which 
were  to  follow  the  introduction  of  self-government 
by  the  people.  The  curriculum  of  the  theological 
seminary,  however,  has  not  been  modified  to  meet 
this  new  situation.  Though  Christianity  is  demo- 
cratic through  and  through,  the  church,  has  to  a 
large  extent,  antagonized  the  democratic  spirit. 
The  masses  are  out  of  sympathy  with  the  church, 
because  they  confound  the  church  and  Christianity, 
ascribing  to  the  latter  the  aristocratic  attitude  of 
the  former.     If  the  theological  student  is  to  do  his 


240      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

work  in  a  democratic  atmosphere,  he  must  be  filled 
with  the  democratic  spirit  and  must  learn  to  employ 
democratic  methods.  This  is  not  the  spirit,  and 
these  are  not  the  methods,  of  the  ordinary  theological 
seminary.  And  unless  this  spirit  is  permitted  to 
control  the  work  and  methods  of  the  seminary,  the 
minister  will  find  the  opportunities  for  his  work 
reduced  both  in  number  and  in  character. 

Then,  certain  changes  should  be  made  which  will 
bring  the  work  of  the  theological  student  into  touch 
with  the  modern  spirit  of  science.  The  great  ma- 
jority of  students  who  enter  the  theological  seminary 
have  but  a  slight  knowledge  of  science,  if  any.  They 
have  come  in  large  measure  from  the  smaller  de- 
nominational colleges,  few  of  which  have  any  equip- 
ment adapted  to  the  teaching  of  science.  Here, 
indeed,  a  real  difficulty  presents  itself.  If  a  pros- 
pective theological  student  is  sent  to  a  state  institu- 
tion, or  to  one  of  the  larger  universities  in  which  he 
would  learn  directly  and  definitely  this  scientific 
spirit,  he  is  in  danger  of  being  drawn  away  from  his 
purpose  to  preach.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  goes 
to  a  small  denominational  college,  he  fails  to  secure 
any  adequate  preparation  in  science  or  psychology. 
It  is  true,  moreover,  that  theological  students  in 
general  are  devoid  of  the  scientific  sense.  They 
have  little  or  no  sympathy  with  scientific  work. 
They  utterly  lack  that  point  of  view  which  will 
enable  them  to  bring  themselves  into  relationship 
with  that  greatest  factor  in  modern  civiHzation, 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  241 

popularly  called  science.  The  man  who  has  not 
had  training  in  science  cannot  speak  e£fectively  on 
any  subject,  least  of  all  the  subject  of  religion,  to 
men  who  have  had  such  training.  We  should  be 
surprised,  not  at  the  small  number  of  scientists  who 
maintain  their  church  connections,  but  rather  at 
the  comparatively  large  number  who  retain  such 
connection  in  spite  of  the  pulpit  ministrations  to 
which  they  are  compelled  to  listen. 

And,  finally,  some  adjustment  must  be  found  by 
which  the  curriculum  will  be  enabled  to  meet  the 
demands  that  are  made  by  the  present  pecuHar 
social  conditions.  Reference  has  already  been  made 
to  the  inabiHty  of  the  ordinary  preacher  to  make  an 
impression  on  the  lower  classes.  The  evidence 
would  seem  to  be  quite  conclusive  that  he  is  equally 
unable  to  influence  the  higher  classes.  The  country 
is  full  of  men  who  have  become  wealthy.  The 
number  of  wealthy  men  increases  every  decade. 
It  is  democracy  itself  that  has  made  possible  this 
large  number  of  wealthy  men.  The  most  interesting 
problem,  perhaps,  that  confronts  the  future  democ- 
racy is  the  question:  How  will  she  adjust  herself  to 
men  of  wealth,  or  they  to  her?  Meanwhile,  what 
is  the  attitude  of  the  church  toward  this  growing 
class  of  influential  men?  How  shall  men  be  pre- 
pared who  shall  be  able  to  work  out  this  difiicult 
problem?  For  it  is  the  problem  of  the  church  as 
well  as  the  problem  of  democracy.  Something  is 
being  done  in  sociological  lines  to  train  men  to 


242      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

exercise  influence  among  the  working  classes. 
Nothing,  however,  has  yet  been  proposed  in  the 
way  of  a  training  which  will  enable  the  ministry  to 
do  successful  work  among  the  richer  classes. 

These,  then,  are  the  principles  and  conditions 
upon  which  the  curriculum  must  be  modified,  and 
now  before  making  a  specific  recommendation  of 
modifications,  I  shall  ofiFer  certain  general  criticisms 
upon  the  present  curriculum.  For  the  sake  of  con- 
venience, these  may  be  divided  into  groups  the  first 
of  which  will  include  criticisms  relating  to  points 
of  a  more  or  less  external  character. 

The  present  scope  of  the  theological  curriculum 
includes  practical  preparation  for  only  one  kind  of 
Christian  work;  namely,  preaching.  A  hundred 
years  ago  this  was  sufficient,  but  in  these  modern 
times  a  great  change  has  come.  Many  phases  of 
the  reUgious  work  of  our  times  are  conducted  by 
those  who  are  not  preachers.  Lay  workers  in  differ- 
ent lines  are  numerous,  and  the  church  must  assume 
the  responsibiUty  for  the  special  preparation  of  these 
men  and  women,  as  well  as  for  that  of  preachers. 
If  one  were  to  calculate  the  number  of  those  whose 
lives  are  given  to  Christian  work  of  one  kind  and 
another,  in  which  they  find  the  means  of  their  sub- 
sistence, the  number  would,  perhaps,  exceed  that 
of  the  preachers.  Only  here  and  there  is  prepara- 
tion made  for  the  training  of  these  workers,  and  this 
preparation  is  in  many  cases  of  a  distinctly  inferior 
character.    Why  should  not  the  curriculum  of  the 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  243 

theological  seminary  be  broadened  sufficiently  to 
include  this  larger  modern  work? 

There  seems  also  to  be  sufficient  evidence  for 
another  criticism:  that  the  present  training  of  the 
theological  seminary  too  frequently  cultivates  on 
the  part  of  the  students  a  narrow  and  exclusive 
spirit.  In  the  case  of  institutions  located  in  country 
towns,  and  isolated  from  the  various  activities  of 
human  Hfe  this  could  not  be  otherwise.  For  in  so 
far  as  the  seminary  follows  the  pohcy  of  the  mediaeval 
monastery,  in  so  far  does  it  cultivate  a  narrow  and 
exclusive  spirit.  In  so  far  as  the  seminary  accepts 
students  who  have  not  already  received  a  broad 
education  in  letters  and  science,  it,  further,  culti- 
vates such  a  spirit;  and  in  so  far  as  its  own  curricu- 
lum includes  only  theological  subjects,  it  still  cul- 
tivates this  spirit.  The  great  majority  of  American 
seminaries  are  located  in  out-of-the-way  places,  and 
are  not  in  touch  with  modern  Hfe.  It  is  almost 
impossible  that  the  average  student  educated  in  these 
institutions  should  have  a  broad  and  generous  spirit. 
There  are  some  men,  of  course,  who,  in  their  very 
nature,  transcend  all  limits  imposed  by  narrowness 
in  education,  but  these  are  the  exception,  and  are 
comparatively  few. 

Again,  the  arrangements  of  many  seminaries  not 
only  encourage,  but  compel,  the  student  to  preach 
constantly  during  the  first  years  of  his  theological 
course.  In  the  seminaries  of  some  denominations 
preaching  is  not  allowed  in  the  first  year.     This 


244      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

should  be  the  regulation  in  every  seminary.  The 
contention  is  made  that  such  preaching  is  practice 
of  the  most  valuable  character  in  that  which  is 
to  be  the  Hfe-work  of  the  student.  The  truth  is 
that  in  most  cases  student-preaching  in  the  first 
and  second  years  of  the  theological  course  is  an  evil. 
To  this  evil  may  be  traced  the  ^  bad  habits  which 
many  preachers  exhibit  in  their  later  ministry. 
The  student  who  does  the  work  of  the  class-room 
during  the  week  is  not  in  fit  condition  to  preach 
regularly  on  the  Sabbath.  Every  sermon  preached 
under  these  circumstances  injures  him.  The  habit 
of  slovenliness  is  inevitably  acquired,  and  when  once 
acquired  this  habit  may  not  be  corrected  by  the 
limited  instruction  given  in  the  later  years  of  his 
course.  The  urgency  which  drives  young  men  into 
the  pulpit  is  a  weapon  of  the  evil  one  to  counteract, 
so  far  as  possible,  the  good  which  would  otherwise 
be  accompHshed.  The  seminary,  instead  of  en- 
couraging or  compelling  this  student-preaching, 
should  forbid  it;  and,  except  incidentally,  students 
should  preach  only  when  provision  has  been  made 
for  careful  and  severe  criticism  of  the  manner  and 
method  of  preaching  adopted. 

My  fourth  criticism  is  against  the  practice  in 
theological  seminaries  of  providing  free  tuition  and 
rooms,  and  of  furnishing  financial  aid  indiscrimi- 
nately to  all  who  may  apply  for  the  same.  This 
practice,  Hke  many  others  of  the  church,  is  a  sur- 
vival of  mediaevalism,  and  is  not  consistent  with 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  245 

the  spirit  of  our  modern  democracy.  In  answer  to 
this  proposition  one  may  not  present  the  analogy, 
so  often  cited,  of  the  military  schools  and  naval 
academies  of  the  government.  These  are  not  paral- 
lel. It  is  true  that  men  of  the  highest  type  have  been 
produced  in  connection  with  the  system  in  vogue  in 
the  seminaries  but  they  were  produced  in  spite  of 
the  system,  not  because  of  it.  In  general,  the  bene- 
ficiary system,  as  it  is  administered,  degrades  the 
student.  This  is  the  testimony  of  hundreds  and 
thousands  who  have  worked  under  it.  It  places 
the  theological  student  upon  a  distinctly  lower  plane 
than  that  occupied  by  the  law  or  medical  student. 
It  cultivates  in  the  very  beginning  of  his  life  a  principle 
which  in  too  many  cases  is  apphed  throughout  life. 
Nothing  is  more  noticeable,  or  more  despicable, 
than  the  utter  lack  of  independence  exhibited  by  a 
great  proportion  of  the  ministerial  class.  In  other 
words,  this  system  encourages  and  cherishes  a 
habit  of  life  which  soon  becomes  permanent.  This 
habit,  though  possibly  consistent  with  the  methods  of 
life  one  hundred  years  and  more  ago,  does  not  fit 
into  the  modern  conceptions  of  life  as  they  have 
been  worked  out  in  the  spirit  of  democracy. 

The  second  group  of  criticisms  will  include  those 
which  relate  to  special  subjects  of  study  in  the 
curriculum,  and  to  the  first  one  reference  has  already 
been  made.  It  is  the  lack  of  a  sufficient  amount  of 
laboratory  work  in  science  in  the  training  of  the 
ordinary  theological  student.     But  how,  it  is  asked. 


246      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

shall  this  lack  be  supplied  ?  The  theological  semi- 
nary is  not  responsible  for  it.  This  work  is  college 
work,  and  should  be  completed  before  the  student 
enters  the  seminary.  There  is  truth  in  this  state- 
ment, but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  colleges 
in  which  the  majority  of  students  preparing  for  the 
ministry  are  trained  devote  their  attention  almost 
exclusively  to  the  humanities,  and  are,  for  the  most 
part,  lacking  in  adequate  equipment  for  the  teaching 
of  science.  The  larger  institutions,  in  which  science 
is  taught  with  satisfactory  methods,  do  not  send  any 
considerable  proportion  of  their  graduates  into  the 
ministry.  The  question  is,  therefore,  one  which 
must  be  considered  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
theological  curriculum.  A  specific  amount  of  lab- 
oratory work  in  science  is  in  our  day  as  necessary 
for  the  prospective  theological  student  as  a  knowl- 
edge of  Greek,  and  if  the  college  does  not  furnish 
the  student  this  equipment,  the  seminary  must 
take  the  necessary  steps  to  provide  it.  We  may 
not  forget  that  in  many  theological  seminaries  of 
England  and  Scotland,  which  are,  perhaps,  more 
like  theological  colleges,  chairs  of  science  are  estab- 
lished. It  was  such  a  chair  that  Henry  Drummond 
occupied  in  the  Free  Church  College  in  Glasgow. 
The  greatest  enemy  Christianity  is  called  to  contend 
with  is  the  materialism  which  has  grown  up  in  these 
days  of  modern  science.  No  man  is  fitted  to  repre- 
sent Christianity  in  this  contest  who  has  not  for  him- 
self mastered  the  methods  and  the  spirit  of  modern 
scientific  workers. 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  247 

Furthermore,  as  it  is  with  the  theological  student 
in  modern  science,  so  it  is  in  modern  psychology. 
The  instruction  in  psychology  provided  in  the 
smaller  institutions  from  which  candidates  for  the 
ministry  come  in  largest  numbers  is  of  the  same 
character  as  the  instruction  provided  in  science. 
The  work,  for  the  most  part,  is  that  which  was 
being  done  fifty  years  ago.  What  may  be  called 
modern  psychology  is  to  them  as  yet  largely  unknown. 
This  statement  as  to  psychology  applies  Hkewise  to 
the  principles  of  pedagogy,  a  subject  which,  in  its 
recent  application,  is  of  vital  interest  to  the  minister. 
Child  study  is  as  directly  connected  with  the  work 
of  the  minister  as  with  that  of  the  teacher,  for  it  is 
in  the  transition  age,  from  twelve  to  eighteen,  that 
the  work  of  the  church  must  be  done. 

But  where  most  of  all  the  curriculum  needs 
modification  is  in  the  matter  of  Bible  study.  There 
has  been  much  talk  about  the  study  of  the  English 
Bible  in  the  theological  seminary.  A  compilation 
of  the  facts,  however,  shows  that  a  comparatively 
small  amount  of  work  in  the  English  Bible  is  being 
undertaken.  The  old-fashioned  habit  of  Bible  study 
in  the  home  has  largely  been  given  up.  The  amount 
of  real  knowledge  of  the  Bible  gained  in  the  Sunday 
school,  even  in  a  long  course  of  years,  is  practically 
nothing.  The  college  student  is  so  occupied  with 
other  work,  and  the  provision  for  Bible  study  within 
his  reach  is  so  inadequate,  in  most  cases,  that  he 
finishes  his  course  without  any  definite  advance  in 


248      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

this  department.  The  theological  seminaries  are 
sending  men  into  the  ministry  who  have  no  proper 
knowledge  of  the  growth  and  development  of  biblical 
thought,  and  who  even  lack  familiarity  with  the 
most  common  material  of  the  biblical  books.  The 
time  of  the  student  is  devoted  either  to  the  more 
mechanical  work  of  learning  a  new  language,  or  the 
peculiarities  of  a  new  dialect,  or  to  the  so-called 
exhaustive  exegesis  of  a  few  chapters.  Of  the  great 
movements  of  national  life,  of  the  contemporaneous 
history,  of  the  social  development,  of  the  gradual 
growth  of  religious  thought,  he  remains  largely  ig- 
norant. Here,  most  of  all,  let  me  repeat,  the  curricu- 
lum needs  modification;  and  the  following  criticism 
will  indicate,  at  least  in  part,  where  this  modification 
might  come  in. 

About  one-fifth  of  the  time  of  the  average  theo- 
logical student  is  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Hebrew 
language.  This  study  is  compulsory;  otherwise  the 
great  majority  of  the  students  would  omit  it.  After 
the  freedom  ordinarily  given  in  the  later  years  of 
college  work,  the  compulsory  language  work  is  in 
most  cases  distasteful.  Only  work  enough  is  done 
by  the  student  to  enable  him  to  receive  credit  for  the 
course.  The  time  thus  spent  proves  to  be  wasteful 
and  injurious.  It  would  be  far  better,  in  the  case 
of  some  students  at  least,  that  this  time  should  be 
given  to  the  study  of  the  English  Bible.  Only  one  or 
two  institutions  in  the  country  have  had  the  courage 
to  make  Hebrew  an  elective.    The  requirement  of 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  249 

Hebrew  has  worked  incalculable  injury  to  the  morale 
of  many  students.  The  study  of  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage should  be  made  elective.  The  result  of  this 
modification  would  be  twofold.  Those  men  who  have 
reached  a  mature  age,  and  are  by  nature  really 
unfitted  to  master  the  details  of  a  new  language, 
might  devote  their  time  to  something  which  would 
bring  them  greater  advantage.  But  besides  this, 
those  who  elect  the  study  of  Hebrew  would  approach 
the  subject  from  another  point  of  view.  It  would 
be  a  voluntary  study,  and  their  attitude  of  mind 
would  be  entirely  different.  Still  further,  an  obliga- 
tion will  rest  upon  the  instructor  in  Hebrew  to  make 
the  subject  as  interesting  as  it  may  be  made,  in  order 
to  attract  students  to  its  study.  As  the  matter  stands 
today,  the  Hebrew  instructor  need  not  disturb  him- 
self, for  the  students  are  compelled  to  attend  his 
classes.  He  does  not,  therefore,  have  the  incentive 
to  throw  into  the  subject  that  vitality  and  energy 
which  are  needed  to  make  it  interesting  and  profitable. 
No  greater  farce  may  be  found  in  any  field  of  educa- 
tional work  than  that  which  is  involved  in  the  teach- 
ing and  study  of  the  Hebrew  language  in  many  theo- 
logical seminaries.  It  may  be  suggested  that  to 
make  Hebrew  an  elective  is  to  lower  the  standard  of 
theological  education.  Those  who  know  the  facts 
connected  with  the  study  of  Hebrew  by  theological 
students  will  not  make  this  claim.  It  is  certainly 
desirable  that  every  man  who  preaches  from  the 
sacred  Scriptures  should  be  able  to  read  them  in  the 


250      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

original,  but  this  is  otily  one  of  many  desirable 
things  on  the  part  of  the  preacher.  If  he  may  not 
attain  all  of  these,  some  must  be  omitted. 

A  most  fertile  field  for  occupation  in  the  training 
of  the  ministerial  student  is  that  of  English  literature. 
It  may  fairly  be  questioned  whether  a  mastery,  so 
far  as  possible,  of  this  field  may  not  be  reckoned  as 
second  in  importance  only  to  the  mastery  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures.  The  great  writers  have  expressed 
in  tangible  form  the  common  feehngs  of  the  soul  of 
humanity,  and  this  expression  always  meets  direct 
response  when  again  brought  into  touch  with  the 
soul  from  which  it  originally  proceeded.  Surely 
the  student  preparing  for  the  ministry  does  not 
understand  the  unlimited  power  of  this  mighty 
weapon,  or  he  would  train  himself  to  make  use  of  it 
more  frequently  and  with  greater  skill.  In  this 
particular,  as  in  that  of  science,  and  in  that  of 
psychology  and  pedagogy,  the  ordinary  college  is 
confessedly  weak,  while,  in  fact,  it  would  hardly 
be  going  too  far  to  assert  that  every  minister  should 
be  a  speciaHst  in  EngHsh  Hterature.  Much  of  the 
technique  of  a  theological  education  could  be  put 
aside  to  advantage,  if  the  time  thus  gained  could  be 
occupied  by  work  in  English  literature. 

But  if  the  theological  student  lacks  living  famil- 
iarity with  the  great  works  of  Hterature,  he  is  even 
weaker,  in  general,  in  his  abiHty  to  express  himself 
in  strong  and  forcible  English.  It  is  notorious  that 
our  college  education  in  the  past  has  been  unsuc- 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  251 

cessful  in  its  effort,  where,  indeed,  effort  has  been 
made,  to  teach  students  the  use  of  English.  Even 
the  common  principles  of  expression  are  unknown 
to  many  of  those  who  present  themselves  for  admis- 
sion to  the  seminary.  In  these  last  years  a  few 
institutions,  realizing  that  expression,  after  all,  is 
the  greatest  result  to  be  sought  in  education,  have 
given  diligent  attention  to  this  matter,  but  it  will  be 
many  years  before  the  results  accomplished  in  the 
average  college  will  be  noticeable.  Meanwhile  it 
will  devolve  upon  the  seminary  to  make  ample 
provision  for  training  men  in  English  expression. 
From  the  first  day,  theme  work,  as  it  is  called,  should 
be  carried  on,  and,  if  necessary,  much  of  the  distinctly 
theological  part  of  seminary  work  should  be  omitted, 
in  order  that  the  student  may  have  an  opportunity 
to  make  himself  skilful  in  the  use  of  the  English 
language.  The  department  of  homiletics  cannot  be 
expected  to  do  this  work,  for  it  really  lies  outside  the 
particular  field  of  that  department.  A  special  chair 
for  instruction  in  the  EngHsh  language  should  be  a 
part  of  the  curriculum  of  every  well-organized  theo- 
logical seminary. 

In  the  third  group  of  criticisms  we  may  include 
suggestions  which  bear  upon  the  general  scope  of 
the  seminary.  This  has  been  referred  to  above. 
These  suggestions  might  all  be  covered  in  a  plea  for 
a  curriculum  which  would  encourage  specialism 
in  the  ministry,  as  opposed  to  the  present  curriculum, 
which  requires  the  same  work  of  every  man.     For 


252      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

instance,  some  men  are  intended  by  nature  to  preach. 
They  may  be  scholarly,  but  they  can  never  become 
scholars.  They  may  possess  a  social  temperament, 
but  the  work  of  the  pastorate  is  not  natural  to  them. 
They  have,  however,  the  abihty  to  impress  an  audi- 
ence with  truths  which  have  taken  possession  of  their 
own  hearts.  Such  men  should  be  encouraged  to 
preach  rather  than  to  do  the  kind  of  work  which 
nature  never  intended  they  should  do.  A  special 
training  should  be  arranged  for  them  which  would 
enable  them  to  become  strong  preachers.  This 
training  would,  of  course,  be  in  large  measure  the 
usual  curriculum,  but  some  subjects  of  the  usual 
curriculum  should*  be  omitted,  and  other  subjects 
substituted,  in  order  that  the  student  in  this  particu- 
lar case  might  be  enabled  to  cultivate  the  talent  with 
which  he  has  been  endowed. 

Other  men,  however,  who  exhibit  a  different 
attitude  of  mind,  and  possess  a  different  tempera- 
ment, should  be  advised  to  select  for  their  study 
subjects  which  would  train  them  specially  for  pas- 
toral work,  or  general  Christian  work.  The  churches 
will  some  time  learn  that  one  man,  whatever  may  be 
his  ability,  cannot  meet  all  the  demands  of  modern 
times.  Then,  perhaps,  they  will  readjust  their 
organization  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  possible  for 
two  or  three  men  of  different  kinds  of  ability  to  be 
associated  together  in  the  same  field.  Only  one 
minister  in  a  thousand  may  be  equally  strong  in  the 
pulpit  and  in  the  pastoral  work,  and  the  effort  of 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  253 

that  man  to  do  both  results  not  infrequently  in  prac- 
tical suicide.  Many  churches  are  today  losing 
ground  because  they  have  placed  in  the  pulpit  a 
pastor  who  cannot  preach.  Other  churches  are 
losing  ground  because  they  have  a  preacher  in  the 
pulpit  who  cannot  or  will  not  do  the  necessary  pas- 
toral work.  This  pastoral  training  should  be  some- 
thing very  different  from  the  training  needed  for 
the  preacher. 

Many  men  who  enter  the  theological  seminary 
with  the  purpose  of  preaching  j&nd,  after  a  period  of 
study,  that  God  intended  them  for  teachers  rather 
than  preachers.  These  desire  to  consecrate  them- 
selves to  the  work  of  the  church.  The  calling  of 
the  Christian  teacher,  whatever  may  be  the  subject 
taught,  is  hardly  less  responsible,  and  hardly  less 
important,  than  that  of  the  preacher.  Provision 
should  be  made  in  the  seminary  by  which  such  men, 
while  grounded  in  the  teachings  of  Christianity, 
shall  find  it  possible  also  to  devote  themselves  to 
some  special  field  of  study,  for  the  sake  of  the  church. 
It  would  be  a  great  advantage  to  all  our  institutions 
of  higher  learning  if  a  larger  number  of  the  men 
engaged  in  teaching  were  controlled  in  life  and 
thought  by  the  spirit  of  consecration  to  the  church. 
There  was  a  time  when  only  ministers  were  appointed 
to  professorships  in  colleges.  The  time  has  come 
when,  outside  of  the  theological  seminary,  the 
minister  is  hardly  eligible  for  the  professor's  chair. 
The  highest  ideal  will  be  realized  when  men  whose 


254      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

lives  have  been  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the 
Master  shall,  as  a  part  of  that  service,  prepare 
themselves  to  teach  in  the  various  subjects  which 
form  the  curriculum  of  the  college  and  the  university. 
Meanwhile  chairs  of  biblical  literature  are  multiply- 
ing in  the  colleges,  and  opportunities  to  do  really 
strong  work  in  connection  with  Bible  classes  are 
rapidly  increasing.  It  is  no  longer  an  entirely 
anomalous  thing  for  a  Bible  teacher  to  receive  com- 
pensation for  his  services. 

In  these  modern  days  the  administration  of  church 
affairs  has  come  to  assume  great  importance.  Men 
who  are  interested  in  affairs  should  be  encouraged 
to  enter  upon  a  service  for  the  church.  To  this  end 
men  of  an  administrative  turn  of  mind,  who,  for  one 
reason  or  another,  find  their  way  to  the  seminary, 
should  be  encouraged  to  give  a  fair  proportion  of 
their  time  to  courses  of  instruction  arranged  especially 
with  administration  as  the  end  in  mind.  The  con- 
cerns of  the  church  are  increasing  in  number  and  in 
magnitude.  These  must  be  cared  for  by  men  spe- 
cially trained  for  the  work.  The  difficulty  with 
which  executive  positions  are  filled  in  college  and 
church  work  is  due  to  the  fact  that  no  special  pro- 
vision has  yet  been  made  for  the  preparation  of  those 
who  might  wish  to  undertake  such  work.  Twenty- 
five  years  ago  it  was  never  suggested  that  a  man 
should  prepare  himself  to  be  a  professor  in  college. 
Today  the  graduate  courses  in  various  universities 
are  organized  for  those  who  publicly  announce  their 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  255 

purpose  to  do  professorial  work  in  college  lines. 
Twenty  years  from  now  young  men  will  announce 
from  the  beginning  their  purpose  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  college  and  university  presidencies  and  for 
the  secretaryships  of  our  great  missionary  societies, 
and  will  undertake  long  years  of  training  especially 
adapted  for  such  work. 

Another  department  of  modern  church  Hfe  that 
is  becoming  more  and  more  emphasized  is  the 
musical  work.  The  men  who  conduct  this  work 
should  be  men  who  have  had  a  theological  train- 
ing. This  training  might  include  also  a  special 
training  in  church  music.  Men  who  have  a  gift  for 
musical  work  should  be  encouraged  to  make  special 
preparation  which  would  fit  them  for  this  class  of 
service,  and  the  seminary  should  require  such  train- 
ing as  an  important  part  of  its  curriculum. 

Another  idea  which  should  be  applied  to  home 
as  well  as  to  foreign  work  is  that  of  the  medical 
missionary.  Many  a  Christian  man  could  do  more 
service  for  the  church  by  acquiring  medical  knowl- 
edge and  making  use  of  it  than  by  giving  his  time  to 
the  study  of  Hebrew.  It  is,  of  course,  true  that  the 
theological  seminary  cannot  easily  offer  special  work 
in  medicine,  but  it  would  be  easy,  by  co-operation 
with  a  neighboring  medical  school,  to  arrange  a 
curriculum  in  such  a  manner  that  a  student  whose 
interest  is  especially  strong  in  this  direction  might 
secure  the  necessary  part  of  the  theological  education, 
and  in  connection  with  it  the  medical  training. 


256      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

Let  us  try  now  to  put  the  whole  matter  in  a  single 
proposition:  The  day  has  come  for  a  broadening  of 
the  meaning  of  the  word  minister,  and  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  specialism  in  the  ministry,  as  well  as  in 
medicine,  in  law,  and  in  teaching.  In  the  village 
and  small  town  a  single  man  can  do  all  the  work  in 
the  Christian  ministry,  as  well  as  in  medicine  and 
in  law.  There  is  evidently  no  room  here  for  the 
speciahst  in  any  field.  But  in  the  small  cities,  as 
well  as  in  the  large  cities,  the  time  has  come  when 
speciahsm  in  the  ministry  is  as  necessary  as  speciaHsm 
in  any  other  profession.  The  ministry  stands  today 
in  this  respect  where  law  and  medicine  stood  twenty- 
five  years  ago.  The  conservatism  of  the  churches 
explains  this  holding  back,  and  the  fact  that  the 
profession  of  the  ministry  has  not  developed,  as 
other  professions  have  developed,  under  the  influence 
of  the  democratic  sentiment,  explains  why  the 
stronger  and  brighter  men  who  come  from  our 
churches  ignore  the  ministry,  and  choose  some  other 
profession. 

The  fourth  group  of  suggestions  will  have  to  do 
with  methods  of  instruction  employed  in  the  seminary. 
Thus,  in  the  first  place,  the  elective  system  should 
characterize  the  theological  curriculum  as  it  now 
characterizes  that  of  other  departments  of  education. 
Not  more  than  one-third  to  one-half  of  the  curriculum 
should  be  common  to  all  students.  To  divide  the 
time  of  the  theological  student  equally  between  four 
or  five  or  six  departments  is,  from  the  pedagogical 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  257 

point  of  view,  absurd.  The  elective  system  is  neces- 
sary, first  of  all,  in  order  to  give  the  student  an 
opportunity  to  pursue  those  studies  in  which  he  is 
most  interested.  The  theological  field  is  very  wide, 
including  linguistic  and  philological  work;  historical 
and  sociological  work;  philosophical  and  pedagogical 
work;  rhetorical  and  literary  work.  No  man  can 
have  the  same  degree  of  interest  in  all  these  fields  of 
study.  In  one  or  another  he  can  excel;  opportunity 
should  therefore  be  given  him  to  select  that  in  which 
he  can  do  his  best  work.  But  further,  the  elective 
system  is  necessary  in  order  that  the  student  may  be 
able,  in  some  special  subject,  to  do  a  sufficient 
amount  of  work  to  enable  him  to  cultivate  the  stu- 
dent habit.  We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  loss, 
on  the  part  of  ministers,  of  the  student  habit.  In 
most  instances  we  should  rather  speak  of  the  lack  of 
such  a  habit,  for  in  these  cases  the  habit  was  never 
gained.  The  present  theological  curriculum  com- 
pels superficiality.  When  under  obligation  to  do  a 
given  amount  of  work,  in  a  given  number  of  depart- 
ments, the  student  is  not  permitted  to  gain  that 
deeper  knowledge  of  any  subject  which  will  enable 
him  to  become  a  student  of  this  subject  in  the  truest 
sense.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  so  many  men  cease 
to  be  even  superficial  students  when  they  leave  the 
seminary. 

What  militates  especially  against  the  elective  sys- 
tem in  seminaries  is  the  general  distribution  of  de- 
partments in  the  seminary  which  is,  for  the  most 


258      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

part,  artificial.  The  students  work  in  these  depart- 
ments without  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  they  are 
artificial.  In  other  words,  they  fail  to  correlate  their 
work.  They  are  surprised  to  learn  that  the  problems 
which  confront  them  in  church  history  or  in  sys- 
tematic theology  are,  after  all,  the  same  problems 
which  they  were  called  upon  to  consider  in  the  field 
of  the  Old  Testament.  Modern  experience  shows 
that  the  best  work  is  accomplished  when  single  prob- 
lems are  taken  up  by  the  student  and  followed,  wher- 
ever they  may  lead,  into  this  or  that  department.  A 
curriculum  should  be  so  arranged  that  the  great  and 
fundamental  subjects  (for  example,  the  atonement, 
the  incarnation,  the  future  life)  might  be  taken  up 
historically  and  systematically,  a  period  being  given 
to  the  idea  as  it  is  presented  in  the  old  religions,  an- 
other period  to  the  consideration  of  the  same  subject 
in  the  Old  Testament,  another  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, another  in  the  progress  of  ecclesiastical  history, 
and  still  another  to  its  systematic  formulation  from 
the  point  of  view  of  modern  philosophy.  To  put  this 
suggestion  in  another  form,  the  time  has  come  for 
the  comparative  method  to  be  introduced  into  theo- 
logical work,  as  well  as  into  the  many  other  fields  of 
thought  in  which  it  has  already  found  a  place. 

A  reason  sufficient  in  itself  for  the  introduction  of 
the  elective  system  is  that  when  there  exists  a  curricu- 
lum requiring  so  much  ground  to  be  covered  in  a 
specified  time,  the  seminar  method  is  clearly  imprac- 
ticable. This  so-called  seminar  method  should  be  more 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  259 

widely  adopted.  It  is  difficult  to  define  this  method. 
The  central  element  in  it,  however,  is  to  encourage 
the  student  to  enter  upon  a  personal  investigation  of 
certain  subjects  for  himself.  The  lecture  method  is, 
for  the  most  part,  unsatisfactory.  This  is  even  more 
true  of  the  text-book  method.  In  special  cases,  to  be 
sure,  these  methods  must  still  be  employed,  but  the 
exclusive  use  of  either  or  both  will  fail  to  give  the 
student  the  training  of  which  he  will  stand  most  in 
need  when,  as  an  independent  student,  he  is  com- 
pelled to  face  the  problems  of  his  work.  There  are 
few  subjects  in  the  theological  curriculum  which  do 
not  lend  themselves  to  this  method.  The  results 
obtained  must  be  more  valuable  than  those  which 
come  in  any  other  way,  because  they  have  been 
reached  by  the  student  himself. 

Another  need  of  the  seminaries  is  something  that 
would  serve  the  same  purpose  for  the  theological  stu- 
dent as  is  served  by  the  hospital  to  the  medical  student, 
or  by  the  law  courts  to  the  law  student.  For  lack  of  a 
better  phrase,  we  might  suggest  ''theological  clinics." 
And  the  environment  of  the  theological  school  usually 
includes  such  material.  This  material  is  not  limited 
to  the  work  of  visiting  the  slums,  but  includes  also 
the  study  of  the  work  of  particular  preachers,  in  the 
pulpit  and  in  church  work,  the  study  of  educational 
methods,  the  study  of  church  organization,  as  illus- 
trated on  every  side.  This  cHnical  or  laboratory 
method  is  already  a  feature  of  the  work  of  seminaries 
in  large  cities.     The  fact  is,  the  theological  seminary 


26o      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

in  any  other  place  than  in  the  large  city  is  as  much 
handicapped  in  many  features  of  its  work  as  the 
hospital  would  be  in  the  same  situation.  But  even 
in  the  larger  cities  this  part  of  the  work  has  scarcely 
been  touched.  The  field  is  boundless,  and  though 
there  is  danger  of  throwing  away  valuable  time  in 
fruitless  search  for  information  and  experience,  yet 
under  wise  guidance  this  danger  may  be  reduced  to 
a  minimum.  Without  its  clinics  a  medical  school 
would  be  a  school  for  the  study  of  certain  facts  of 
science ;  it  would  not  be  a  training  school  for  physi- 
cians. Without  its  clinics  the  theological  school  is  a 
school  for  the  study  of  language  and  history  and 
philosophy,  and  is  not  a  place  for  the  training  of 
preachers  or  Christian  workers. 

The  old-fashioned  method  of  training  ministers, 
the  method  employed  before  the  organization  of  the 
theological  seminary,  because  it  has  some  certain 
advantages  over  modern  methods,  deserves  at  least 
a  partial  reinstatement  in  the  period  of  preparation. 

Every  theological  curriculum  should  include  a 
certain  time  set  apart  for  work  in  a  church  under  the 
direction  of  a  pastor,  the  pastor  during  this  period 
serving  as  the  instructor  of  the  student.  The  time 
spent  should  be  long  enough  to  give  the  student  a 
real  experience  of  practical  church  work.  It  should 
not  be  less  than  three  months,  or  one-ninth  of  the 
whole  time  given  to  the  preparation.  In  no  other 
way  may  actual  experience  be  gained  so  easily,  and 
in  this  way  the  inevitable  mistakes  of  the  first  years 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  261 

of  the  pastorate  would  be  largely  avoided.  Just  as 
every  law  student  should  spend  a  portion  of  his  time  in 
a  law  office,  and  every  medical  student  in  a  hospital, 
so  the  student  for  the  ministry  should  spend  a  portion 
of  his  time  in  actual  touch  with  real  church  work, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  leader.  It  is  true  that 
ministers  might  not  be  willing  to  accept  this  respon- 
sibility in  addition  to  their  regular  work,  but  it  may 
be  suggested  that  arrangements  could  be  made  by 
which  the  minister  should  receive  compensation,  of 
more  than  one  kind,  in  return  for  this  service  granted 
the  seminary. 

Reference  has  been  made  more  than  once  to  the 
means  by  which  the  student  should  come  into  direct 
contact  with  practical  life.  For  this  reason  it  has 
been  suggested  that  the  best  place  for  the  location 
of  the  seminary  is  in  the  city.  Essential  as  this  is, 
it  remains  true  that  the  student  whose  life-work  is  to 
be  that  of  spreading  Christianity  needs,  as  his  Master 
before  him  needed,  opportunity  for  seasons  of  prayer 
and  meditation.  These  seasons,  moreover,  should 
be  sometimes  long  continued,  extending,  it  may  be, 
over  days,  and  possibly  weeks.  The  curriculum  of 
work  intended  to  prepare  a  man  to  preach  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  should  include  provision  for  retire- 
ment from  the  world  of  groups  of  men,  selected  with 
great  care,  under  the  leadership  of  a  congenial  per- 
sonahty;  a  retirement  during  which  effort  should  be 
made  to  separate  the  mind  and  soul  from  contact 
with  the  outer  world  and  to  bring  them  into  closest 


262      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

touch  with  God  himself.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that 
one  should  always  be  in  a  prayerful  mood.  It  is  not 
enough  to  say  that  God  is  in  the  world,  and  that  con- 
tact with  the  world  is  therefore  contact  with  God. 
We  are  human,  and  therefore  weak,  and  we  need  at 
times  to  take  advantage  of  impulses  and  circum- 
stances which  will  cultivate  within  us  the  calm, 
peaceful  spirit  of  meditation,  the  strong  and  urgent 
spirit  of  longing  for  a  higher  inspiration,  the  exalting 
and  ennobhng  spirit  which  comes  from  communion 
with  God.  A  season  of  such  life,  away  from  the 
cares  and  distractions  of  ordinary  living,  in  which 
ghmpses  may  be  caught  of  a  higher  spiritual  life, 
would  seem  to  be  an  important  element  in  the  train- 
ing of  him  who  is  to  guide  others  into  that  higher 
Hfe. 

And  now,  at  the  risk  of  repetition,  I  desire  to 
present  by  way  of  summary  a  few  specific  recom- 
mendations for  the  improvement  of  the  theological 
curriculum.  These  suggestions  are  intended  to  em- 
body in  the  main  the  points  indicated  above. 

1.  That  an  opportunity  be  given  to  those  who 
may  so  desire  to  spend  four  years  in  the  seminary 
instead  of  three,  and  that  the  stronger  men  be  en- 
couraged to  take  the  longer  period.  It  is  understood, 
of  course,  that  the  work  is  arranged  for  students  who 
have  taken  a  college  degree.  It  would  scarcely  be 
wise  to  require  four  years'  preparation  of  all  men. 

2.  That  the  work  of  the  first  year  be  prescribed 
and  carried  on  in  common  by  all  students,  whatever 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  263 

may  be  their  special  predilection.     This  work  should 
include : 

a)  A  general  course  covering  the  field  of  Old 
Testament  history,  literature,  and  theology;  a  general 
course  covering  the  field  of  New  Testament  history, 
Hterature,  and  theology;  a  course  giving  in  outline  a 
survey  of  the  field  of  ecclesiastical  history,  and  a 
course  giving  in  outline  the  ground  to  be  covered  in 
systematic  theology.  These  courses  should  be  intro- 
ductory or  general  in  their  character,  and,  though 
restricted  to  three  or  four  hours  a  week,  may  be  pre- 
sented fairly  well  in  a  year  of  thirty-six  weeks.  In 
the  conduct  of  this  course  the  lecture  method  and 
text-book  method  should  prevail.  There  would  be 
no  place  in  this  work  for  the  seminar  method. 

b)  One  or  two  lectures  a  week  throughout  the 
year  in  sociology,  the  aim  and  purpose  of  which 
should  be  to  present  to  the  student  as  forcibly  as 
possible  the  more  important  characteristics  of  the 
special  environment  in  which  he  is  to  take  a  place. 

c)  Regular  theme  work  for  the  cultivation  of 
proper  expression.  This  work,  while  under  the 
direction  of  a  specially  appointed  instructor,  should 
be  conducted  in  close  connection  with  the  general 
courses  of  instruction  indicated  above.  A  certain 
number  of  brief  papers  should  be  prepared  by  the 
student  during  the  year,  each  of  which  should  be 
thoroughly  criticised  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
EngHsh  as  well  as  that  of  the  contents. 

3.   That  immediately  upon  finishing  the  general 


264      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

courses  in  Old  Testament,  New  Testament,  church 
history,  and  systematic  theology,  the  student  be  ex- 
pected to  make  choice  of  certain  fields  of  work  and  of 
special  subjects  in  these  fields,  and  that  after  this 
choice  has  been  made  the  details  be  worked  out  under 
the  direction  of  the  professor  in  whose  department 
he  shall  undertake  to  do  his  particular  work.  It  is 
understood  that,  as  soon  as  the  prescribed  curricu- 
lum is  abandoned,  the  student  will  need  the  special 
counsel  of  an  adviser. 

4.  That  at  this  point  the  students  be  allowed  to 
group  themselves  according  to  the  work  which  they 
propose  to  do.  In  this  way  there  will  come  to  be  a 
group  of  those  who  perhaps  are  planning  to  preach 
or  teach;  another  group  of  those  who  desire  to  become 
pastors,  administrators,  or  general  workers;  a  third 
group  for  musical  workers ;  and  a  fourth,  if  necessary, 
for  medical  workers. 

5.  That  in  each  case  the  student  be  expected  to 
select  a  particular  department  in  which  he  shall  do 
his  principal  work.  This  will  be  one  of  the  six  de- 
partments ordinarily  organized  in  connection  with  a 
divinity  school;  namely.  Old  Testament,  New  Testa- 
ment, church  history,  systematic  theology,  sociology, 
homiletics.  It  will  be  to  his  advantage  also  to  select 
a  second  department  in  which  he  shall  do  secondary 
work. 

6.  That  the  study  of  Hebrew  be  required  of  those 
only  who  make  the  Old  or  New  Testament  the  prin- 
cipal subject,  and  that  a  knowledge  of  Greek  be  re- 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  265 

quired  of  those  only  who  are  to  be  preachers  or 
teachers. 

7.  That  every  student  who  is  preparing  to  teach 
or  preach  be  encouraged  to  give  a  liberal  portion  of 
his  time  to  work  in  natural  science,  psychology,  and 
EngHsh  hterature,  unless  in  his  college  course  he  has 
made  such  progress  in  these  subjects  as  would  war- 
rant his  omission  of  them  at  this  stage  of  his  work. 

8.  That  in  the  group  made  up  of  those  who  are 
to  be  pastors,  administrators,  and  general  workers, 
the  English  Bible  be  made  the  principal  subject,  and 
that  the  secondary  subjects  be  psychology,  peda- 
gogy, and  sociology.  Of  these,  neither  Hebrew  nor 
Greek  should  be  required. 

9.  That  for  musical  and  medical  workers  courses 
be  laid  out  along  lines  of  special  adaptation,  an  effort 
being  made  to  correlate  the  work  of  the  seminary 
with  that  of  some  special  institutions  in  which  music 
and  medicine  are  the  sole  subjects  of  study. 

10.  That  to  as  large  an  extent  as  possible  the 
work  of  the  student  be  directed  to  the  study  and 
investigation  of  great  problems. 

11.  That  "chnics"  be  organized  in  connection 
with  various  departments  of  the  seminary;  for  ex- 
ample, in  Sunday-school  work,  with  the  bibHcal  and 
pedagogical  departments;  in  visitation  work,  with 
the  sociological  department;  in  preaching  and  church 
administration,  with  the  department  of  homiletics. 

12.  That  a  certain  number  of  weeks  be  set  aside 
in  the  course  of  each  student  during  which  he  shall 


266      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

work  under  the  direction  of  a  pastor  in  active  service, 
the  results  of  this  work  to  be  formulated  by  the 
student,  criticised  by  the  pastor,  and  reported  to  the 
faculty  of  the  seminary. 

13.  That  arrangements  be  provided  whereby 
students  in  small  groups,  with  an  instructor  of  their 
own  choice,  may  be  enabled  to  retire  from  the  active 
work  of  the  institution,  and  live  together  in  quiet 
and  solitude  for  special  seasons. 

14.  That,  in  so  far  as  possible,  the  theological 
curriculum  be  organized  in  connection  with  a  uni- 
versity, in  order  that  the  facihties  afforded  by  the 
university  may  be  at  the  service  of  the  student,  and 
his  individuaHsm  thereby  be  given  opportunity  to 
develop;  and  in  order,  further,  that  there  may  be 
gained  the  greater  breadth  which  is  secured  by 
mingHng  with  men  who  have  other  points  of  view. 
To  this  same  end  intermigration  between  theological 
seminaries  of  the  same  denomination  and  of  different 
denominations  should  be  encouraged. 

15.  That  in  all  cases  tuition  fees  be  charged,  and 
that  all  money  to  be  used  for  the  aid  of  students  be 
distributed  in  the  form  of  scholarships  on  the  plan 
adopted  in  colleges  and  universities,  in  return  for 
which  the  student  shall  render  actual  service  of  one 
kind  or  another  to  the  seminary. 

16.  That,  inasmuch  as  each  seminary  cannot 
make  provision  for  all  the  specialties  in  Christian 
work,  an  agreement  be  reached  among  seminaries 
located  in  a  given  district  in  accordance  \^dth  which 


THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM  267 

the  students  of  all  the  institutions  in  that  district  who 
wish  to  work  in  a  given  specialty  be  advised  to  go  to 
the  seminary  in  which  this  specialty  may  be  culti- 
vated. 

17.  That  the  scope  of  the  theological  seminary 
be  broadened  and  if  necessary  the  name  be  changed 
in  order  that  it  may  include  instruction  for  Christian 
workers  of  all  classes. 


XV 

UNIVERSITY  TRAINING  FOR  A  BUSINESS 
CAREER 

It  is  desirable  to  make  a  distinction,  though 
probably  an  ill-founded  one,  between  the  phrases 
"business  life"  and  "business  career."  The  former 
would  naturally  include  the  latter;  but  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  phrase  "business  career"  is  too  dignified 
a  term  to  be  applied  to  a  large  proportion  of  the  lives 
which  may  legitimately  be  said  to  be  devoted  to 
business. 

A  certain  number  of  men  who  go  into  business 
have  careers.  The  number  may  be  small  relatively; 
it  is,  however,  large  absolutely.  Here  belong  those 
men,  and  women,  who  prove  to  be  leaders ;  who  are 
heads  of  departments  or  superintendents ;  who  direct 
the  work  of  others;  who,  in  a  word,  are  successful 
in  life,  not  perhaps  in  the  sense  that  they  become 
wealthy,  nor  in  the  sense  that  they  alone  experience 
the  real  enjoyment  of  life,  but  in  the  sense  that  they 
occupy  positions  of  responsibility  and  have  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  their  own  methods  of  work,  and 
may  claim  credit  for  results  achieved.  It  is  this 
class  of  men  one  naturally  has  in  mind  when  he 
speaks  of  university  training  for  a  business  Hfe  or 
career. 

It  goes  without  saying,  perhaps,  that,  so  far  as 
268 


TRAINING  FOR  A  BUSINESS  CAREER       269 

the  business  side  of  life  is  concerned,  one  would  not 
recommend  a  university  training  for  a  man  who  is 
to  be  a  shipping  clerk,  or  an  ordinary  bank  clerk,  or 
a  clerk  in  a  railroad  auditor's  office.  I  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  such  a  training  would  not  be  of  infinite 
value  to  men  in  these  positions,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  life  in  general.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to 
distinguish  between  the  responsibilities  and  oppor- 
tunities connected  directly  with  a  business  career 
itself,  or  with  a  man's  development  in  business,  on 
the  one  side,  and,  on  the  other,  with  that  higher  life 
which  every  man  is  entitled  to  enjoy  to  the  utmost. 

Within  a  decade  or  so  two  points  have  come  to  be 
realized;  one  of  these  in  the  business  world,  the  other 
in  the  university  world.     No  man  who  is  acquainted 
with  the  facts  will  deny  that  today  special  oppor-X 
tunities  of  the  highest  rank,  in  business,  are  opening  \ 
to  men  of  college  training.     College  men  are  being  1 
sought  out  in  practically  every  kind  of  business  for  I 
positions  of  responsibility.     Experience  has  shown  i 
that  the  college  man,  although  he  may  not  have  the  1 
technical  training  for  the  particular  business  upon  / 
which  he  enters  after  leaving  college,  requires  no 
long  period  of  time  in  which  to  overtake  the  non- 
college  man  who  started  in  the  same  business  years 
before ;  and  to  overtake  means,  of  course,  to  outstrip. 

Here  and  there  may  be  found  a  business  man  of 
large  success  who,  himself  a  non-college  man,  clings 
to  the  old  idea  that  a  college  training  does  not  help 
a  man  to  prepare  for  business.    Such  men,  however, 


270      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

are  few,  and  the. almost  uniform  success  which  col- 
lege men  have  achieved  furnishes  evidence  enough 
that  this  old-fashioned  position  may  no  longer  be 
maintained.  Great  business  concerns  on  every  side 
are  calling  for  men  whose  minds  have  been  trained, 
and  they  are  willing  to  give  such  men  ample  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  the  technique  of  the  business  which 
they  are  to  enter,  strongly  confident  that  in  the  end 
these  men  will  excel. 

All  agree  that  a  man  injures  his  chances  for  suc- 
cess in  a  particular  profession  or  line  of  business  if 
he  enters  upon  that  work  at  too  late  a  period  in  his 
life.  Care  must  be  taken  that  the  college  man, 
unless  his  circumstances  are  of  a  special  character, 
shall  not  postpone  too  long  the  taking  up  of  his  life- 
work. 

But  it  is  even  more  clear  that  great  risk  is  run  in 
beginning  one's  life  specialty  at  too  early  a  period. 
The  danger  here  lies  in  the  fact  that  one's  habits 
become  fixed  in  a  certain  routine.  Only  a  small 
proportion  of  those  who  begin  their  life-work  at  an 
early  date  are  strong  enough  to  push  forward  into 
the  higher  ranks  of  business.  We  read  now  and 
then  of  a  railway  president  who  has  come  up  from 
the  position  of  conductor  or  train  dispatcher;  but 
what  proportion  of  conductors  or  train  dispatchers 
ever  get  beyond  these  positions  when  they  have  once 
been  fully  installed  in  them?  The  advantage  of 
college  training  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  man  thus 
trained  is  not  ordinarily  satisfied  to  remain  in  a 


TRAINING  FOR  A  BUSINESS  CAREER       271 

lower  position ;  and  that,  conscious  of  his  abihty,  he 
presses  forward  by  legitimate  means  to  something 
better  and  higher. 

The  fact  which  has  come  to  be  recognized  in  the 
college  and  university  world  is  that  a  new  kind  of 
training  is  possible  for  men  who  contemplate  a  busi- 
ness career.  This  new  training,  which  has  already 
been  introduced  into  many  of  our  institutions,  does 
not  differ  in  method  or  spirit  from  the  older  training. 
It  consists  in  substituting  for  certain  subjects  that 
formed  the  larger  part  of  the  curriculum  of  years 
gone  by  certain  other  subjects  which  have  in  recent 
times  come  into  prominence.  In  making  these  sub- 
stitutions the  college  recognizes  that  training  is  no 
longer  to  be  restricted  to  the  employment  of  a  few 
subjects;  and  that  all  subjects  perhaps  may  contrib- 
ute legitimately  to  the  purpose  of  discipline  and  cul- 
ture. The  word  ''training"  has  come  to  be  used 
in  a  larger  sense.  The  word  ''culture"  has  likewise 
been  greatly  broadened. 

In  the  field  of  scientific  study,  as  well  as  in  those 
of  history  and  political  economy,  great  possibilities 
have  been  opened.  The  former  leads  naturally 
toward  those  fines  of  business  for  which  a  scientific 
or  technical  training  will  be  found  useful;  the  latter, 
in  the  direction  of  banking,  railway  management, 
insurance,  joumaHsm,  and  other  closely  related 
professions.  Provision  is  now  made  in  nearly  all 
the  larger  institutions  for  courses  deafing  with  the 
principles  underlying  these  important  calfings,  and 


272      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

the  young  man  who  has  already  made  choice  of  his 
special  field  in  business  may  secure  an  intellectual 
training  which  will  be  of  great  service  to  him  in  the 
future,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  broad  and  compre- 
hensive acquaintance  with  the  facts  and  principles 
that  relate  to  the  particular  business  which  he  desires 
to  follow. 

These  two  great  modifications  of  opinion,  one  in 
the  business  world  and  the  other  in  the  college  world, 
have  come  within  recent  years.  They  have  come  side 
by  side,  each  helping  the  other  to  gain  ground  in  the 
territory  of  the  enemy,  if  the  word  ** enemy"  is  not 
too  strong  a  one  with  which  to  describe  those  who 
frequently  scoff  at  the  idea  that  such  subjects  are  used 
to  advantage  in  the  college  curriculum;  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  those  who  ridicule  the  proposition  that  a 
college  training  is  of  real  advantage  to  a  man  who 
proposes  for  himself  a  business  Hfe. 

What  is  it  in  general  that  the  college  does  for  the 
young  man  entering  into  business?  Is  it  perhaps 
true  that  in  more  recent  times  the  college  has  actually 
degraded  itself  in  order  to  attract  him  ?  The  pur- 
pose of  the  college  method  is  clear.  It  is  intended 
primarily  to  develop  in  the  man  systematic  habits; 
to  give  him  control  of  his  intellectual  powers;  to  fit 
him  in  such  a  manner  that  he  may  be  able  to  direct 
those  powers  successfully  in  any  special  direction. 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  the  training  is  of  a 
general  character.  Special  training  looking  toward 
a  particular  profession  or  line  of  work  is  not  the 


TRAINING  FOR  A  BUSINESS  CAREER       273 

province  of  the  college.  Such  training  is  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  an  apprenticeship.  The  difference 
between  the  general  training  and  the  special  training 
consists  in  this:  the  former  renders  a  man  able  to 
take  hold  of  any  kind  of  work;  the  latter  fits  him  only 
for  a  particular  thing.  The  man  with  special  train- 
ing finds  himself  unable  easily  to  be  transferred  from 
one  kind  of  work  to  another,  or,  except  in  rare  in- 
stances, as  suggested  above,  to  advance  from  one 
division  of  the  field  to  another.  The  college  man 
will,  of  course,  require  in  each  case  a  given  time  in 
which  to  adjust  himself  to  the  new  situation,  but  this 
technique,  or  the  amount  of  it  necessary  for  his  ad- 
vancement, he  will  easily  master.  All  this  may  be 
said  of  the  old-fashioned  curriculum;  in  other  words, 
the  curriculum  by  which  the  college  men  were  trained 
who  occupy  high  positions  in  the  world  today. 

It  has  come  to  be  the  opinion  of  many  educators, 
as  I  have  said,  that  the  college  may  take  a  step  for- 
ward in  this  matter,  and,  while  furnishing  the  general 
training  just  referred  to,  at  the  same  time  provide 
the  student  with  a  given  amount  of  special  knowledge 
relating  to  the  subjects  that  are  fundamental  in  the 
hne  of  business  contemplated. 

It  was  argued  that  modern  history  could  be  made 
use  of  as  a  discipHne  with  equal  advantage  as  com- 
pared with  ancient  history.  Modern  languages,  if 
properly  taught,  would  secure  at  least  a  large  amount 
of  that  training  which  a  study  of  the  classics  develops. 
This  was  the  first  step  toward  this  more  practical 


274      THE  TREND;^IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

curriculum.  It  was  followed  by  the  recommenda- 
tion of  courses  in  chemistry  and  biology,  which  would 
prepare  the  way  for  medicine;  by  courses  in  consti- 
tutional histor}^  and  international  law,  preparatory' 
to  the  legal  profession;  and,  as  already  suggested,  by 
courses  connected  with  the  department  of  poUtical 
economy,  on  commercial  geography,  colonization, 
money,  banking,  insurance,  etc.,  which  pointed  in  the 
direction  of  business. 

Sufficient  time  has  not  elapsed  to  prove  conclu- 
sively that  this  poHcy  is  a  good  one,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  either  the  college  or  the  student.  It  has, 
however,  much  in  its  favor;  and  if  we  were  to  reach 
a  conclusion  on  the  basis  of  probabiHties,  the  case 
might  be  considered  as  settled.  The  greatest  ad- 
vantage connected  with  the  policy  is  the  fact  that 
the  ordinary  student,  knowing  that  the  subject- 
matter  will  be  of  real  service  to  him  in  the  future, 
takes  a  deeper  interest  in  the  course  proposed,  and 
secures  not  only  this  special  knowledge,  but  also  a 
better  training  in  proportion  to  the  high  character 
of  the  work  performed. 

The  extent  to  which  this  adaptation  of  the  college 
curriculum  has  taken  place  is  already  marked.  To 
be  sure,  the  smaller  colleges  of  the  country  have  not 
been  able  to  make  important  changes  in  this  direc- 
tion. This,  Uke  all  other  efforts  to  make  the  curricu- 
lum a  special  one,  calls  for  the  expenditure  of  money 
in  large  sums.  This  has  been  done  by  several  in- 
stitutions, and  the  experiment,  if  it  may  be  called 


TRAINING  FOR  A  BUSINESS  CAREER       275 

such,  is  well  under  way.  It  is  altogether  probable  ] 
that  in  some  cases  the  idea  has  been  carried  too  far;  I 
but  that,  upon  the  whole,  it  will  prove  successful,  / 
no  one  really  doubts.  / 

The  whole  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words."^ 
General  training  is  believed  to  be  superior  in  most 
cases  to  special  training.  This  general  training 
can  be  secured  on  the  basis  of  a  curriculum  made 
up  in  part  of  special  subjects — that  is,  subjects  closely 
related  to  the  special  calling.  If  the  danger  involved 
in  too  early  specialization  can  be  avoided,  the  poHcy 
is  a  feasible  one.  If,  however,  in  the  use  of  special 
subjects  the  teacher  or  the  student  fails  to  secure  the 
general  training,  the  experiment  will  prove  to  be 
more  or  less  a  failure. 

It  is  a  matter  that  concerns  a  large  constituency. 
It  is  a  method  which  may  succeed  in  one  institution 
and  fail  in  another.  It  may  succeed  Hkewise  in  the 
case  of  one  individual  and  fail  in  the  case  of  another. 
Everything  depends  upon  the  spirit  with  which  the 
work  is  conducted,  and  this  is  only  saying  what  must 
be  said  concerning  every  undertaking  of  an  educa- 
tional character. 


XVI 

SHALL  COLLEGE  ATHLETICS  BE 
ENDOWED  ? 

The  endowment  of  college  athletics  has  been  pro- 
posed. The  authorities  of  at  least  three  of  the  largest 
universities  in  the  West  have  given  consideration  to 
the  proposition.  In  fact,  it  is  still  being  considered. 
No  one's  eyes  are  blind  to  the  difficulties  which  it 
involves.  Further  study  of  it  may  prove  conclusively 
that  as  a  practical  suggestion  it  has  no  value;  but 
until  that  decision  is  reached  it  is  surely  deserving 
of  earnest  study,  as  a  possible  solution  of  some  of 
the  difficulties  connected  with  one  of  the  most  serious 
administrative  problems  of  higher  education — that 
of  intercollegiate  athletics. 

It  may  be  urged  against  the  proposition  that 
colleges  today  stand  in  greater  need  of  endowment 
for  other  subjects.  With  the  various  departments 
of  science  and  the  humanities  crying  piteously  for 
larger  resources  why  should  money  be  diverted  to 
college  athletics  ?  It  is  only  necessary  to  study  the 
subject  to  appreciate  the  force  of  this  objection.  But 
is  it  not  begging  the  question  to  use  the  word  ''di- 
vert" ?  The  endowment  of  athletics  will  come,  if  it 
comes  at  all,  from  men  who  would  never  think,  per- 
haps, of  giving  money  for  the  endowment  of  a  depart- 
ment of  science,  or  one  of  the  departments  of  arts  and 

276 


ENDOWED  COLLEGE  ATHLETICS  277 

literature.  This  point  should  not  be  overlooked. 
Besides,  if  the  department  of  physical  culture,  of  which 
athletics  is  only  a  division,  is  worthy  to  be  one  of  the 
departments  in  an  institution  of  higher  learning,  is  it 
not  as  deserving  of  endowment  as  any  other  depart- 
ment ? 

It  is  suggested,  however,  that  the  public  is  quite 
ready  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  athletic  teams  by  the 
purchase  of  tickets  at  the  gate.  Why,  then,  should 
they  not  have  this  privilege  ?  It  is  certainly  possible, 
in  the  case  of  this  department,  if  it  is  to  be  reckoned 
as  one  of  the  university  departments,  to  secure  its 
support  in  this  way  from  the  masses.  The  peculiar 
advantage  of  this  fact  should  not  be  ignored;  and 
as  long  as  the  pubHc  is  willing  to  perform  this  service 
should  they  not  be  permitted  to  do  so  ?  The  force 
of  this  suggestion,  however,  is  somewhat  counter- 
balanced by  the  fact,  as  will  be  noted  later,  that  other 
points  in  contention  are  the  uncertainty  of  this  kind 
of  support,  and,  still  worse,  the  degradation  which  it 
carries  with  it.  Shall  the  university  depend  for  the 
support  of  one  of  its  departments  upon  a  crowd,  a 
large  proportion  of  which  treats  the  game  as  it  would 
treat  the  race-course,  and  patronizes  it  because  of 
the  opportunity  which  it  furnishes  for  gambling? 
Shall  a  higher  institution  of  learning  cater  thus  to 
the  lowest  passions  of  the  multitude? 

It  is  true,  as  has  been  urged,  that  tickets  must  be 
distributed  according  to  some  plan.  Is  it  possible 
to  devise  a  better  or  more  economical  plan  than  that 


278      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

now  in  vogue  ?    Here,  again,  there  is  danger  of  los- ) 
ing  sight  of  the  fact  that  by  the  present  plan,  in^ 
accordance  with  which  a  high  price  is  placed  upon) 
tickets  of  admission,  many  members  of  the  faculty' 
and  still  larger  numbers  of  the  student  body  are, 
actually  prevented  from  attending  the  games  becaus^ 
of  their  inabihty  to  meet  the  exorbitant  charges^ 
Attendance  upon  the  athletic  games  throughout  aj 
single  year  in  a  certain  institution  involves  a  cost  of; 
not  less  than  $30.     This  sum  of  money  is  a  very^ 
serious  matter  for  a  large  proportion  of  the  students. 
A  plan  which  would  permit  the  presentation  of  fre( 
tickets  for  all  games  to  members  of  the  faculty  am 
to  all  students  would  contribute  largely  to  a  strongei 
and  higher  institutional  spirit,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
be  of  financial  advantage  to  those  who  need  help. 

The  most  serious  objection  to  the  suggestion  thus 
far  offered  is,  perhaps,  the  charge  that  such  a  policy 
would  develop  still  further  that  much-dreaded  specter, 
of  patemaHsm;  for  would  it  not  almost  entirely  re- 
move responsibiHty  from  the  students  themselves, 
and  make  the  management  of  the  athletic  interests  a 
perfunctory  thing  so  far  as  student  activity  is  con- 
cerned ?  One  might  ask  two  questions :  If  the  stu- 
dent management  of  athletics  has  been  so  thoroughly 
satisfactory,  and  if  it  has  contributed  so  greatly  to 
the  legitimate  education  of  the  student  body,  why  is 
the  tendency  of  recent  years  so  strongly  in  the  direc- 
tion of  substituting  for  it  a  more  or  less  definite 
faculty  control  ?    And,  furthermore,  if  it  is  distinctly 


ENDOWED  COLLEGE  ATHLETICS 


'■^ 


to  the  advantage  of  the  student  body  to  be  admitted! 
in  a  substantial  way  to  the  control  and  direction  of 
the  college  affairs,  why  should  the  principle  not  be 
carried  still  further  and  the  control  and  management 
of  other  college  interests  be  placed  in  student  hands  ? 
Is  there  really  any  considerable  danger  of  so  great 
an  increase  in  the  development  of  patemaHsm  as 
will  prove  a  serious  menace  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  colleges  ?  This  frequent  raising  of  the  bugbear 
of  paternaHsm,  in  connection  with  every  college 
question  that  comes  up  for  discussion,  tends  to 
weaken  the  force  of  the  cry,  especially  inasmuch  as 
the  freedom  today  accorded  the  student  body  of  the 
larger  institutions  is  greater  than  ever  before.  If  a 
careful  examination  were  made  of  all  the  facts,  it 
would  probably  be  found  greater  than  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  student  body  really  demand. 

An  important  difficulty,  of  course,  Hes  in  the  fact 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  secure  uniformity  of 
policy  in  any  large  number  of  universities.  Some 
might  be  able  to  secure  such  an  endowment,  while 
others  could  not.  But  would  this,  after  all,  be 
serious  ?  There  is  great  diversity  in  the  endowment 
of  institutions  in  other  departments;  why  should 
uniformity  be  necessary  in  this  case?  Could  not 
those  institutions  which  are  closely  related  in  athletic 
work  have  a  common  fund,  the  weaker  in  this  case 
receiving  some  advantage  from  the  stronger?  Co- 
operation of  this  kind  would  surely  tend  to  develop 
an  institutional  spirit  which  in  itself  might  be  of 


28o      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

distinct  advantage  to  other  educational  interests. 
It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  many  difficulties  lie 
in  the  way  of  realization  of  any  such  plan  as  that 
which  has  been  suggested,  but  it  may  be  worth  while 
to  note  in  passing  a  few  of  the  points  which  are  urged 
in  favor  of  the  policy. 

If  college  athletics  were  endowed,  and  those 
precautions  taken  in  reference  to  the  expenditure 
of  money  which  control  in  other  departments,  the 
actual  cost  of  athletics  would  be  greatly  reduced. 
Some  beHeve  that  this  saving  would  amount  to  50 
per  cent,  of  the  total  sum  expended.  No  one  doubts 
that  the  saving  would  be  considerable.  This  state- 
ment does  not  imply  that  at  present  there  is  any 
gross  mismanagement.  It  means  simply  that  with 
the  elimination  of  certain  rivalries,  the  strict  control 
of  expenses,  the  more  definite  knowledge  of  resources, 
a  real  improvement  could  be  effected  in  the  financial 
administration  of  the  work.  When  it  is  recalled  that 
the  amount  now  expended  in  the  case  of  single  insti- 
tutions ranges  from  $25,000  a  year  to  more  than 
$100,000,  it  can  easily  be  understood  that,  at  all 
events,  there  is  a  field  for  the  practice  of  economy. 

It  is  contended,  moreover,  that  this  policy  would 
remove  a  large  measure  of  that  element  in  college 
athletics  that  is  now  recognized  as  illegitimate.  That 
this  element  exists,  in  the  East  as  well  as  in  the  West, 
no  one  can  doubt,  after  the  recent  disclosures  in  con- 
nection with  the  difficulties  at  Brown  University. 
The  adoption  of  this  new  policy,   many  believe, 


ENDOWED  COLLEGE  ATHLETICS  281 

would  take  away  the  motive  for  encouraging  this 
illegitimate  side  of  college  athletics.  The  rivalry 
between  institutions  would  be  less  intense.  The  con- 
tests would  be  lifted  to  a  higher  level.  The  sport 
would  become  in  a  true  sense  a  gentleman's  sport. 
The  necessity  of  securing  large  returns  from  games 
and  certain  unpleasant  features  fostered  by  the  ath- 
letic management  for  the  sake  of  financial  success 
would  no  longer  exist.  In  brief,  the  character  of  the 
game  would  be  transformed.  The  evils  so  manifest 
today  may  be  traced,  in  nearly  every  case,  to  the 
financial  side.  Change  the  poHcy  and  the  occasion 
of  evil  will  disappear. 

As  has  already  been  suggested,  the  claim  is  put 
forward  that  the  work  in  athletics  is  a  part  of  the 
work  in  physical  culture,  and  that  since  the  depart- 
ment of  physical  culture  is  a  regularly  recognized 
department  in  many  institutions,  co-ordinate  with 
other  departments  of  the  university,  it  requires  for 
its  proper  conduct  the  same  provision  in  its  various 
sub-departments  that  is  made  for  other  subjects  in- 
cluded in  the  schedule  of  the  university.  So  long 
as  the  most  conspicuous  work  of  the  department  of 
physical  culture  is  dependent  for  its  support  upon 
gate  receipts  at  public  games  it  cannot  occupy  the 
high  and  dignified  place  which  should  be  accorded  it. 
If  the  athletic  work  of  the  department  is  not  of  suffi- 
cient value  to  the  department,  to  the  men,  and  to  the 
institution  concerned  to  warrant  its  support  in  a  legiti- 
mate fashion,  this  work  should  immediately  be  given 


282      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

up.  The  evils  which  are  associated  with  athletics, 
as  now  administered,  are  so  many  that  they  bring 
reproach  upon  this  department,  and,  indeed,  upon 
the  cause  of  higher  education  itself.  Reorganization 
of  the  athletic  work,  or  its  discontinuance,  is  de- 
manded by  public  opinion  inside,  as  well  as  outside, 
of  the  universities. 

Who  will  dispute  the  statement  that  if  the  adop- 
tion of  this  poHcy  would  bring  about  the  changes 
that  are  predicted  by  its  advocates,  the  endowment 
of  athletics  would  be  fully  worth  the  cost  involved. 
To  dignify  that  which  today  is  confessedly  a  source 
of  disgrace  and  reproach  to  the  college  authorities; 
to  remove  the  incentive  which  is  so  strong  as  to  lead 
to  illegitimate  and  immoral  representations ;  to  mini- 
mize, at  all  events,  the  rivalry  in  institutions  which 
in  so  many  cases  has  proved  to  be  injurious;  to  Hft 
the  cause  of  higher  physical  education  to  a  plane 
co-ordinate  with  that  of  intellectual  education — all 
this  is  worth  doing,  if  it  can  be  done  even  at  great 
cost. 

But  how  is  it  possible  to  accompHsh  this  ?  The 
most  ardent  advocate  of  the  poKcy  will  concede  at 
once  that  the  change,  if  it  is  to  come,  must  come 
gradually,  and  that  it  will  be  one  of  long  process. 
But  if  one  could  believe  that  within  fifty  years  this 
change  might  be  brought  about  in  several  of  the 
largest  institutions  of  the  country,  east  and  west,  it 
would  be  worth  while  to  undertake  the  task.  No 
one  certainly  imagines  for  a  moment  that  any  real 


ENDOWED  COLLEGE  ATHLETICS  283 

results  can  be  achieved  within  a  short  time.  If,  as 
has  been  suggested,  the  expense  of  the  athletic  teams 
could  by  this  plan  be  reduced  to  one-half  of  the  pres- 
ent amount,  the  actual  sum  of  money  called  for 
might  possibly  be  covered  by  an  increase  of  the 
student  fees.  If,  for  example,  a  $10  fee  were  charged, 
this  would  secure  in  an  institution  of  a  thousand 
students,  $10,000;  of  three  thousand  students, 
$30,000,  and  it  may  fairly  be  questioned  whether  a 
larger  sum  should  be  expended;  and,  indeed,  under 
the  management  thus  secured,  would  a  larger  sum 
really  be  called  for?  For  a  time,  perhaps,  friends 
of  this  or  that  institution  might  consent  to  make 
annual  subscriptions.  Unquestionably  many  sub- 
scriptions could  be  obtained  for  this  purpose  which 
would  not  otherwise  come  to  an  institution.  In 
time  an  endowment  fund  could  be  established.  A 
quarter  of  a  million  dollars,  or  a  half-milHon  dollars, 
is  not  too  large  a  sum  to  be  considered  in  connection 
with  such  work,  if  we  keep  in  mind  the  great  interest 
that  it  represents,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  a  part  of  a 
rapidly  growing  movement,  the  interest  of  which 
centers  in  the  education  of  the  body.  Furthermore, 
it  would  not  be  impossible  to  secure  the  co-operation 
of  institutions,  and  thereby  the  creation  of  a  common 
fund  in  which  all  should  share,  even  if  a  larger  por- 
tion of  this  sum  of  money  came  from  the  constituency 
of  one  institution  than  from  that  of  another.  In  a 
matter  hke  this  no  one  knows  what  can  be  done  or 
what  cannot  be  done  until  an  effort  is  made.     In 


284      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

view  of  the  progress  already  made  along  these  hnes 
within  twenty-five  years,  marked  by  the  erection  of 
so  many  magnificent  gymnasiums,  may  we  not  ex- 
pect that  the  next  twenty-five  or  fifty  years  will  bring 
as  a  portion  of  their  good  fortune  the  proper  endow- 
ment of  the  work  which  these  gymnasiums  were 
intended  to  foster  ? 


XVII 

LATIN  VERSUS  SCIENCE 

The  question  of  requiring  work  in  the  Latin  lan- 
guage and  literature,  especially  in  the  case  of  stu- 
dents who  are  candidates  for  the  bachelor's  degree 
in  science,  is  one  which  has  excited  much  interest. 
This  interest  has  manifested  itself  in  the  sessions  of 
one  of  our  faculties,  that  of  the  Ogden  School  of 
Science,  which  has  held  several  important  meetings 
during  the  year  (1898-99)  for  the  consideration  of 
questions  relating  to  the  curriculum  of  the  College  of 
Science.  Two  distinctly  different  theories  have  been 
propounded  in  reference  to  this  curriculum.  Accord- 
ing to  the  first,  a  specific  amount  of  work  in  the  study 
of  the  Latin  language  and  literature  should  be 
required  of  all  students  of  science  after  they  have 
entered  college,  and  in  addition  to  the  requirement 
for  admission.  The  advocates  of  this  policy  have 
endeavored  to  show  that,  in  the  education  of  those 
whose  tastes  He  in  the  direction  of  the  natural 
sciences,  work  should  be  provided  which  will  at  the 
same  time  connect  their  thought  with  the  past, 
broaden  their  horizon,  and  assist  them  in  the  culti- 
vation of  a  good  English  style;  that  the  subject  which 
is  best  adapted  to  secure  these  results  is  the  Latin 
language  and  hterature;  that  the  student  who  has 
prepared  for  college  by  doing  his  work  largely  in 

285 


286      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

science,  and  who  gives  too  much  time  to  work  in 
science  during  his  freshman  and  sophomore  years, 
is  speciaHzing  at  too  early  an  age;  that  in  his  first 
college  year  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  a  student  to 
turn  away  from  science  and  to  study  Latin,  thus 
relinquishing  for  the  time  the  opportunity  to  pursue 
those  subjects  which  are  in  accordance  with  his 
tastes,  in  order  that  he  may  have  a  broader  point  of 
view  from  which  to  do  his  life-work.  The  advo- 
cates of  the  other  theory  have  proposed  that  Latin 
be  made  an  elective  in  the  curriculum  for  the  degree 
of  bachelor  of  science,  and  that  students  who  come 
to  the  university  without  having  studied  Latin  be 
admitted  and  given  permission  to  go  forward  with 
their  work  without  taking  up  this  study.  The 
advocates  of  this  policy  urge  that  too  much  of  the 
student's  time  is  spent  on  subjects  with  which  he  is 
not  in  sympathy,  and  from  which,  therefore,  no 
considerable  profit  may  be  gained;  that  subjects  in 
science  are  as  effective  as  those  in  any  other  field  in 
broadening  the  horizon  and  in  teaching  accuracy  of 
statement;  that  the  subject  of  Latin  as  it  is  taught 
does  not  and  cannot  accompHsh  that  which  is 
claimed  for  it;  that  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  turn  men 
away  from  science,  on  the  ground  that  they  enter 
college  without  preparation  in  Latin,  thus  separating 
them  from  the  subject  which  would  be  of  greatest 
educational  profit;  that  the  results  of  the  system 
adopted  at  present  in  the  University  are  seen  in  the 
fact  that  so  small  a  portion  of  the  time  of  Junior 


LATIN  VERSUS  SCIENCE  287 

College  students  may  be  given  to  the  study  of 
science. 

The  line  between  these  two  policies  has  been 
sharply  drawn;  and  it  is  significant  that  the  members 
of  the  staff  in  the  various  departments  of  science,  as 
well  as  the  members  of  the  Senate,  are  almost 
equally  divided. 

A  study  of  the  situation  from  the  point  of  view  of 
an  outsider  would  seem  to  indicate  that  both  sides 
are  right  and  both  wrong.  The  conservative  party 
is  right,  and  the  radical  party  wrong,  in  the  conten- 
tion which  relates  to  binding  the  student  closely  to 
the  past  and  all  that  is  bound  up  in  the  past.  We 
have  learned  that  the  embryonic  child  passes 
through  all  the  stages  of  animal  life — from  the  lowest 
to  the  highest,  during  the  embryonic  period;  that, 
in  other  words,  the  growth  and  development  of  each 
child  born  into  the  world  presents  an  epitome  of 
millions  of  years  of  animal  development.  We  have 
learned  that  the  child,  as  it  proceeds  from  stage  to 
stage  until  it  reaches  manhood  or  womanhood, 
passes  through  all  the  phases  of  life  through  which 
the  human  race  has  passed,  and  that  many,  if  not 
all,  of  those  who  are  vicious  are  cases  of  arrested 
development.  It  is  said  that  one  may  trace  the 
history  of  art,  from  the  most  early  times  to  the  pres- 
ent, in  the  efforts  of  the  child  as  he  grows  to  years 
of  maturity  and  slowly  develops  what  would  today 
be  called  art-talent.  If  all  this  be  true,  it  is  essential 
as  one  of  the  first  elements  in  education  that  the 


288      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

college  man  become  familiar  with  the  thought  of  past 
generations,  as  that  thought  has  expressed  itself  in 
institutions  and  as  it  has  found  expression  in  litera- 
ture. This  heritage  of  the  past  is  an  essential 
element  to  culture  and  breadth  of  view.  Science 
has  been  greatly  hindered  in  her  progress  because 
too  many  of  her  advocates  have  not  possessed  them- 
selves of  this  heritage,  rightly  theirs,  which,  had  it 
been  obtained,  would  have  rendered  life,  and  all 
that  enters  into  life,  more  satisfactory.  Any  system 
of  education,  therefore,  which  will  permit  the  student 
to  begin  at  the  end  (for  to  begin  with  science  is  to 
begin  at  the  end)  does  the  student  a  distinct  injury. 
The  student,  of  course,  is  not  expected  to  know  all 
this,  and  is,  therefore,  not  himself  responsible.  The 
very  fact  that  the  student  is  to  do  his  work  in  science 
later  is  an  argument  in  favor  of  giving  the  earlier 
part  of  his  education  to  the  humanities  which  repre- 
sent the  past.  On  this  point  the  older  view  seems  to 
be  the  better  and  truer  view.  And  the  efforts  made 
by  scientific  men  to  dislodge  those  subjects  which 
represent  the  culture  of  the  past  are  efforts  which  in 
the  end  will  prove  hurtful  to  the  best  interests  of 
science  itself. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  radical  party  is  right,  and 
the  conservative  party  wrong,  in  the  contention  that  a 
given  amount  of  study  of  the  Latin  language  properly 
represents  this  culture  of  the  past  to  which  reference 
has  been  made.  The  Latin  language,  as  it  is  ordi- 
narily taught,  studied  for  the  period  of  two  or  three, 


LATIN  VERSUS  SCIENCE 


289 


or  even  four  years,  by  a  student  without  incerest  in 
the  study  of  any  language,  certainly  does  not  bring 
the  student  into  living  touch  with  the  institutions  and  ^ 
literature  of  the  past.    The  great  majority  of  stu- 
dents who  pass  through  this  routine  fail  to  gain  any 


290      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

man,  and  especially  in  that  of  the  scientist,  is  a 
study  of  the  great  heritage  we  have  received  from 
the  past.  The  pohcy  would  be  in  agreement,  how- 
ever, with  the  contention  of  the  radical  party,  that 
this  end  is  not  conserved  simply  by  a  study  of  the 
Latin  language.  It  would  propose  that  in  the  case 
of  students  who  are  familiar  with  French  and  Ger- 
man, and  after  a  reasonable  amount  of  language 
work  exhibit  a  real  inability  to  do  such  work  with 
ease  and  profit,  there  be  required,  instead  of  the 
specified  number  of  courses  in  Latin,  a  specified 
number  of  courses  in  the  study  of  the  history,  the 
institutions,  and  perhaps  the  literature  of  the  past. 
Inasmuch  as  the  difficulty  of  testing  such  work  is 
greater  than  that  of  testing  acquisition  made  in  the 
study  of  Latin,  it  is  proposed  that  at  first  a  relatively 
larger  number  of  courses  in  history  and  literature  be 
required.  This  proposition  is  very  different  from 
the  one  already  adopted  in  many  institutions,  which 
involves  an  omission  of  the  Latin  requirement,  but 
does  not  demand  a  substitute  for  this  requirement. 

In  accordance  with  the  proposition  here  suggested, 
every  student  would  be  required  to  gain  a  certain 
familiarity  with  the  life  and  thought  of  the  various 
nations  which  have  contributed  most  to  our  modern 
civilization.  This  life  and  thought  is  revealed  in  the 
institutions  and  literatures  which  they  have  trans- 
mitted to  us.  These  form  an  integral  part  of  our  own 
life  and  thought,  and  it  is  because  a  man  does  not 
possess  that  which  is  really  his  own  that  he  is  called 


LATIN  VERSUS  SCIENCE  291 

narrow  from  the  point  of  view  of  education.  I  should 
be  willing  to  regard  this  as  an  experiment.  A  five 
years'  trial  of  such  an  experiment,  at  all  events,  will 
make  it  possible  to  reach  a  wiser  conclusion  than  we 
are  able  to  reach  with  the  data  now  in  our  possession. 
It  will  be  urged,  in  opposition  to  such  a  proposition, 
by  the  conservative  party  that  this  is  only  another 
step  in  the  downward  path,  the  end  of  which  means 
demoralization ;  that  the  student  who  is  not  interested 
in  the  study  of  languages  has  no  interest  in  literature ; 
and  that  both  history  and  literature  are  more  difficult 
to  teach,  and  do  not  secure  from  the  student  that 
accurate  mental  discipline.  To  these  objections  it 
may  be  answered  that  the  cry  of  danger  has  been 
raised  at  every  step  which  has  been  taken  even  in  the 
direction  of  progress;  and  that  language  and  litera- 
ture are  two  essentially  different  subjects.  The  stu- 
dent will  have  had  long  disciphne  in  the  study  of 
French  and  German.  Many  a  student  has  failed 
to  have  his  interest  aroused  in  literature  because 
literature  has  been  confounded  with  language;  and 
if  the  college  curriculum  does  not,  at  all  events,  make 
provision  for  encouraging  men  to  read,  there  is  no 
good  ground  for  the  colleges  to  continue  their  work. 
The  study  of  literature  is  the  cultivation  of  the 
fondness  for  reading.  The  great  evil  of  college  work 
in  these  modern  days  lies  in  the  tendency  to  under- 
take everything  except  this,  the  greatest  of  all  things 
for  which  the  college  is  founded.  If  greater  emphasis 
were  placed  upon  the  study  of  history  and  literature. 


292      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

better  methods  of  teaching  would  be  developed,  and 
thus  better  students  would  be  obtained.  Already 
the  results  of  the  teaching  of  history  and  literature 
in  hands  of  good  teachers  are  eminently  satisfactory, 
even  from  the  disciplinary  point  of  view. 

The  radical  party  will,  doubtless,  propose  the  fol- 
lowing objections  to  this  proposition:  (i)  that,  after 
all,  the  student  is  not  allowed  to  study  the  subject 
which  he  prefers;  namely,  science;  (2)  that  at  the 
most  important  age  for  the  cultivation  of  observation 
and  for  the  training  which  science  furnishes,  he  is 
deprived  of  the  privilege  of  such  training;  (3)  that 
the  connection  is  broken  between  the  work  in  science 
which  may  have  been  done,  and  the  later  work  to 
which  he  may  desire  to  devote  his  exclusive  attention. 

A  careful  study  of  these  objections  shows,  how- 
ever, that  they  affect  the  case  slightly,  if  at  all.  It  is 
as  important  in  certain  stages  of  the  student's  pro- 
gress that  he  study  subjects  which  he  does  not  like, 
as  that  he  should  study  subjects  which  are  pleasing 
to  him.  The  best  discipline  is  secured  from  doing 
that  which  is  not  altogether  pleasing;  and,  besides, 
the  student  will  never  know  what  subject  or  subjects 
may  be  in  accordance  with  his  natural  taste  and 
ability,  and  what  may  be  distasteful  to  him,  unless  he 
shall  have  made  an  earnest  effort  in  subjects  which 
represent  the  various  groups  of  the  curriculum.  It 
is  not  proposed  that  at  any  stage  in  the  career  of  the 
student  he  should  be  deprived  of  the  possibility  of 
doing  work  in  science.    No  reason  exists  why  he 


LATIN  VERSUS  SCIENCE  293 

should  not  during  the  entire  period  have  had  a  portion 
of  his  work  in  the  department  of  science.  If  the 
scientist  demands  all  of  the  time  of  a  student  from 
an  early  age,  he  is  demanding  what  will  in  the  end 
prove  injurious  to  the  student  and  injurious  to  the 
cause  of  science;  and  with  such  demands  there  can 
be  no  sympathy  on  the  part  of  one  who  is  interested 
in  the  development  of  other  departments  of  human 
knowledge. 

That  the  suggestion  here  made  will  meet  with  the 
approval  of  all  who  stand  arrayed  in  these  opposite 
parties  I  cannot  hope.  I  permit  myself,  however, 
to  express  the  opinion  that  an  unprejudiced  con- 
sideration of  this  suggestion  will  show  that  it  meets 
many  of  the  difficulties  which  now  confront  us,  and 
that  enough  may  be  said  in  favor  of  it  to  warrant  its 
trial  as  an  experiment,  side  by  side  with  the  policy 
now  in  vogue. 


XVIII 
COEDUCATION 

Progress  in  the  last  forty  or  j&fty  years  has  not 
been  restricted  to  matters  in  the  realm  of  physical 
science,  nor  to  the  solution  of  problems  in  the  field 
of  industrial  work.  Wonderful  as  has  been  the 
advance,  for  example,  in  everything  with  which 
electricity  has  had  to  do,  on  the  one  hand,  or  in 
everything  which  relates  to  transportation,  on  the 
other,  a  careful  survey  of  the  whole  situation  will 
show  that  progress  equally  wonderful  has  been 
made  in  many  other  hnes  of  intellectual  effort;  and, 
among  all  these,  an  exhibit  can  be  made  for  progress 
in  education  which  will  be  as  remarkable  as  any 
other.  It  is  customary  to  make  remark  upon  the 
widespread  influence  of  commercial  ideals  and  of 
others  closely  related,  and  upon  the  enormous 
growth  of  such  interests  within  a  given  time.  One 
Hkewise  may  point  out  the  magnificent  development 
in  the  educational  field,  and  the  very  remarkable 
growth  which  has  taken  place  even  within  ten  years. 

A  dozen  or  more  problems  of  paramount  interest 
in  the  field  of  education  have  taken  on  more  definite 
form  within  these  years,  and  some  of  them  have 
moved  definitely  toward  solution.  In  the  case  of  one 
of  these  problems  it  is  interesting  to  note  that,  while 
all  agree  that  important  progress  has  been  made 

294 


COEDUCATION  295 

toward  its  solution,  there  is  great  difference  of  opin- 
ion as  to  the  direction  in  which  the  solutionis  being 
found.  I  refer  to  the  problem  of  the  coeducation 
of  the  sexes. 

The  interest  in  the  subject  of  coeducation  is 
something  extraordinary.  The  word  has  become 
almost  a  shibboleth  in  the  contest  between  the  pro- 
gressive and  the  conservative.  Those  who  accept 
the  doctrine  of  coeducation  beheve  in  it  with  all 
their  heart;  those  who  oppose  it  are  ready  to  fight 
it  with  every  kind  of  weapon.  It  is  maintained, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  at  the  present  time  a  wave  of 
reaction  is  passing  over  the  country,  and  that  the 
facts  point  clearly  to  a  marked  change  of  feeHng  on 
the  part  of  those  who  have  hitherto  been  the  friends 
of  coeducation.  It  is  just  as  steadily  maintained, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  never  before  in  the  history 
of  education  has  the  feeling  on  this  subject  been 
stronger  or  more  intense.  It  is  impossible  to  sup- 
pose, we  are  told,  that  in  this  day  of  advanced  en- 
hghtenment  women  are  to  be  deprived  of  any  of 
the  privileges  which  they  have  gained  in  the  hard- 
fought  battles  of  the  past. 

The  agitation  of  this  subject,  we  must  concede, 
has  been  more  pronounced  and  more  widely  distrib- 
uted within  two  or  three  years  than  at  any  time  in 
the  preceding  decade.  The  immediate  occasion  of 
this  agitation  is  more  or  less  uncertain.  In  certain 
institutions  of  learning  the  subject  has  been  seriously 
discussed.     In  many  educational  conferences  it  has 


296      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

received  much  attention,  and  is,  consequently,  a 
subject  which  just  now  deserves  the  thought  of  all 
who  take  any  interest  whatever  in  questions  of  gen- 
eral education. 

It  is  my  desire  to  present  briefly  two  proposi- 
tions. First,  I  wish  to  show  that  coeducation  is  the 
latest  of  several  stages  which  may  be  traced  in  the 
gradual  development  of  educational  method  as  it 
stands  related  to  success.  Second,  I  shall  endeavor 
to  point  out  that  coeducation  may  be,  and  indeed 
must  be,  modified  and  adjusted  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  special  situations. 

It  requires  only  a  superficial  observer  to  be  able 
to  note  quite  definitely  the  geographical  features  of  the 
problem  of  coeducation.  Roughly  speaking,  we 
find  in  New  England  and  New  York  colleges  for 
men  and  colleges  for  women  separate  from  each 
other,  Radchffe  and  Barnard  being  almost  as  dis- 
tinct from  Harvard  and  Columbia  as  if  they  were 
independent  women's  colleges.  In  this  territory  a 
larger  number  of  separate  schools,  including  acade- 
mies, are  to  be  found  than  probably  in  any  other 
part  of  the  country,  although  even  here  the  modern 
high  school  open  to  both  boys  and  girls  has  had 
large  growth.  In  the  middle  states  and  the  West 
colleges  for  men  alone  or  colleges  for  women  arel 
almost  unknown.  In  any  case,  they  form  the  excep- 
tion. In  this  statement  count  need  not  be  taken  of 
certain  ** finishing"  schools  for  women,  called  semi- 
naries. A  more  uniform  system  could  hardly  be 
imagined  than  that  which  prevails. 


COEDUCATION  297 

Jn  the  Soutii,  although  the  policy  of  coeducation 
has  been  very  largely  accepted  and  put  into  operation, 
it  is  by  no  means  so  uniform  as  in  the  West.  In  the 
wealthy  East  and  in  the  sentimental  South  parents 
have  been  loath  to  trust  their  daughters  in  so  demo- 
cratic an  environment.  In  the  West  it  has  been 
different;  to  a  large  extent  the  girl  has  been  placed 
upon  the  same  footing  as  the  boy.  Opinions  may 
differ  as  to  the  wisdom  of  this  poHcy,  as  shown  by 
its  results,  but  the  facts  as  thus  roughly  stated  are 
indisputable. 

The  geographical  distribution  just  indicated  fur- 
nishes the  clue  to  the  historical  development  of  co- 
education. Here  again  my  statement  must  be  the 
most  general  possible.  We  may  observe  at  least 
three  stages  in  this  development.  The  first  will 
include  the  period  extending  far  back  when  college 
instruction  was  provided  only  for  men.  During 
this  period  women  were  given,  in  the  so-called  semi- 
naries, some  knowledge  of  music,  history,  the  French 
language,  and  EngHsh  Hterature;  but  the  provision 
for  the  higher  education  of  women,  whether  consid- 
ered from  the  point  of  view  of  curriculum,  endowment, 
or  instruction,  was  practically  nothing.  The  second 
stage  was  introduced  when  Vassar  College  was  built 
in  the  year  1861.  In  a  section  of  the  country  in 
which  provision  had  already  been  made  for  men,  no 
plan  whereby  women  might  enjoy  the  privileges  of 
higher  education  could  be  devised  other  than  that 
of  separate  colleges.     It  seems  quite  certain  even 


0:      "^^ 


298      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

today,  both  from  the  economic  and  from  the  social 
point  of  view,  that  any  other  solution  of  the  question 
of  women's  higher  education  was  impossible.  Col- 
leges had  been  provided  for  men.  The  only  sensible — 
in  fact,  the  only  possible — thing  was  to  provide 
institutions  of  a  similar  character  for  women.  At 
this  time  the  question  of  university  work,  as  distin- 
guished from  that  of  college,  had  not  yet  presented 
itself. 

About  this  same  time,  however,  people  in  the 
western  states  found  themselves  compelled  to  pro- 
vide faciHties  for  higher  education  for  both  men 
and  women.  It  is  true,  a  certain  number  of  colleges 
for  men  had  been  founded  in  accordance  with  the 
New  England  poUcy  of  separate  education;  but  these, 
in  most  cases,  were  not  adequately  equipped,  and, 
besides,  they  were  not  numerous  enough  to  meet  the 
very  large  demands  being  made.  In  the  great  de- 
velopment of  education  by  the  people  which  took  the 
form  of  state  universities,  and  was  led  by  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  the  idea  of  separate  education 
prevailed  only  a  short  time.  The  situation  in  the 
West  was  characterized  by  so  much  flexibility  and 
was  so  easily  adjusted  to  the  demands  of  the  popular 
feeHng,  that  within  a  httle  while  the  coeducational 
poHcy  was  adopted  at  Michigan;  and  in  the  univer- 
sities afterward  estabHshed  practically  no  question 
was  raised  on  this  point.  Among  the  colleges  first 
established  for  men,  and  later  opening  their  doors 
to  women,  Oberhn,  in  Ohio,  took  the  lead. 


COEDUCATION  299 

In  rough  outline,  then,  we  see  three  poKcies  in 
operation,  the  first  of  which  may  be  called  the  old, 
the  second  and  third  the  new — these  latter  growing 
out  of  an  acknowledged  conviction  that  women  should 
have  the  privileges  of  higher  education;  the  second 
policy,  providing  for  separate  colleges  for  women, 
having  its  fullest  development  in  that  section  of  the 
country  in  which  fairly  adequate  provision  had 
already  been  made  for  men;  the  other  poHcy,  that  of 
coeducation,  coming  into  existence  in  the  West, 
where  comparatively  meager  opportunities  for  higher 
education  existed  at  the  particular  time  when  the 
rights  of  women  in  this  respect  had  come  to  be 
recognized. 

It  is  important,  in  the  study  of  this  problem,  to 
observe  the  influence,  by  way  of  reaction,  which  has 
been  exercised  on  educational  policy  by  the  coeduca- 
tional development  in  the  West.  This  is  seen  in  the 
so-called  annexes  that  have  been  established  in  con- 
nection with  some  of  the  largest  universities,  like 
Harvard  and  Columbia.  In  these  the  arrangement 
exists  by  which,  in  classes  for  graduate  instruction, 
and,  indeed,  in  some  of  the  higher  undergraduate 
work,  men  and  women  may  be  admitted  to  the  same 
recitation  room.  This  development  seems  to  have 
proceeded  farther  at  Columbia  than  at  Harvard. 
It  has  gone  still  farther  at  Yale,  where  all  courses  of 
instruction  in  graduate  work  have  been  opened  to 
women.  And  inasmuch  as  the  Hne  between  graduate 
and  undergraduate  work  in  these  days  is  not  sharply 


300      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

drawn,  this  means  that  in  the  later  years  of  college 
work  men  and  women  in  many  cases  sit  together  at 
Yale.  It  is  seen  still  further  in  the  number  of  col- 
leges— for  example,  Rochester  and  Beloit — which 
have  within  ten  years  opened  their  doors  for  the  first 
time  to  women;  likewise,  in  the  fact  that  in  the  last 
few  years  there  has  been  no  perceptible  increase  in 
the  number  of  women's  colleges.  Three  additional 
points  may  be  mentioned  which  look  in  the  same 
direction.  In  several  instances  in  the  West  women 
have  been  admitted  to  professional  schools  in  divinity, 
medicine,  and  law.  Certain  German  universities 
have  admitted  women,  and  in  many  cases  for  degrees; 
and,  besides,  there  has  been  a  growth  in  the  amount 
and  character  of  philosophical  work  along  coeduca- 
tional lines,  the  great  majority  of  modern  educational 
philosophers  making  coeducation  a  fundamental 
principle  in  their  system. 

It  is  quite  possible  to  base  upon  the  above  sketch, 
imperfect  as  it  is,  certain  conclusions.  These  may 
be  summed  up  very  briefly.  The  result  of  the  de-^ 
velopment  which  has  been  taking  place  during  fifty 
years,  as  we  see  it  today,  is  far  from  ideal,  since  the 
development  has  been  so  largely  affected  by  historical  y 
and  geographical  situations.  If  the  coeducational 
principle  is  correct,  the  East  is  at  least  fifty  years  be- 
hind the  West.  If  it  is  wrong,  it  will  require  more 
than  a  century  for  the  West  to  set  itself  right.  The 
South  is  in  a  position  to  move  in  either  direction 
without  serious  difficulty. 


COEDUCATION  301 

The  lack  of  unanimity  of  opinion  becomes  more 
and  more  apparent  as  one  looks  closely  into  the  facts. 
Although  at  first  sight  the  West  seems  to  have  made 
its  choice  of  coeducation  on  purely  pedagogical 
grounds,  a  closer  examination  shows  that  coeduca- 
tion was  as  much  a  matter  of  necessity  in  the  West 
as  it  was  an  impossibihty  in  the  East.  How  could 
provision  be  made  in  the  western  states  for  separate 
colleges  for  women  when  there  were  so  few  such 
colleges  for  men?  Coeducation  in  the  West  has 
been  an  economic  necessity.  Now  that  the  number 
of  students  is  so  large  and  the  resources  of  these 
states  have  increased  at  so  rapid  a  rate,  will  it  any 
longer  remain  an  economic  necessity  ?  And,  if  not 
an  economic  necessity,  will  it  continue  ? 

But,  notwithstanding  this,  it  is  clear  that  the 
pohcy  which  may  be  said  to  characterize  the  West 
is  a  more  modem  poHcy,  and  that  in  this  policy  the 
western  institutions  have  made  large  advance  upon 
the  East.  It  is  not  merely  a  question  of  different 
geographical  situation,  nor  of  historical  environment. 
It  is  more  than  this.  A  stage  of  development  has 
been  reached  higher  and  more  advanced  than  that 
stage  which  is  represented  in  the  East  by  separate 
institutions  for  men  and  women.  The  spirit  which 
opens  the  doors  of  every  educational  institution  to 
women  as  well  as  to  men  is,  one  may  safely  say, 
splendidly  modern  and  higher  than  the  older  spirit 
of  the  monastery  and  the  convent.  It  is  surely  more 
American.    If,  however,   we  understand  that  the 


302      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

principle  of  evolution  holds  good  in  the  field  of  educa- 
tional progress,  we  must  conclude  that  there  is  some- 
thing still  higher  in  educational  policy  in  connection 
with  this  question  of  coeducation  than  has  yet  been 
reached.  It  seems  to  be  certain  that  this  higher 
development  will  always  include  close  association 
of  men  and  women,  and  the  extension  of  equal 
privileges  by  the  same  institution  to  both  sexes. 

It  is  often  the  case  that  the  best  friends  of  a  move- 
ment are  its  worst  enemies.  This  is  certainly  true 
of  those  advocates  of  the  coeducational  poHcy  who 
maintain  concerning  coeducation  that,  *'hke  the 
form  of  a  geometrical  figure,  it  is  the  same  yesterday, 
today,  and  forever,"  and  that  its  permanency  depends 
wholly  upon  the  acceptance  of  a  definition  which 
makes  coeducation  synonymous  with  coinstruction, 
and,  therefore,  instruction  given  to  men  and  women 
sitting  side  by  side  in  the  same  room.  Those  who 
feel  that  any  other  definition  will  sacrifice  all  that 
has  been  gained  for  women  in  the  struggles  of  the 
last  century  may  be  strong  friends  of  coeducation,  but, 
in  the  light  of  history  and  the  present  situation,  they 
cannot  be  regarded  as  wise  friends.  In  a  study  of 
the  policy  or  system  it  is  eminently  necessary  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  essential  elements  in  a  system 
and  those  which  may  or  may  not  be  essential.  To 
argue  that  coinstruction  is  an  essential  factor  in  co- 
education is  simply  to  advocate  a  superstition  and 
at  the  same  time  to  reduce  the  whole  subject  to 
formal  mechanism. 


COEDUCATION  303 

All  will  agree  that  coeducation  does  involve  asso- 
ciation between  male  and  female  students.  The 
question  is:  Shall  we  reduce  to  a  mathematical 
formula  the  quantity  of  such  association,  and  shall 
we  indicate  by  geometrical  figure  the  exact  form  it 
shall  take  ?  This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  real  question 
at  issue;  and,  as  Professor  Albion  W.  Small  has 
said,  this  conception  of  coeducation  is  parallel  with 
the  opinion  "that  marriage  is  one  unchanging  and 
unchangeable  form  of  association  between  a  man  and 
a  woman."  Under  monogamy  we  have  several  dif- 
ferent conceptions  as  to  the  character  of  the  union 
involved  in  marriage;  whether,  for  example,  divorce 
is  at  the  discretion  of  the  husband,  or  there  shall  be 
any  divorce  at  all;  whether  the  wife  shall  have  her 
own  property,  or  the  property  shall  be  in  the  hands  of 
the  husband ;  whether  the  husband  or  the  wife  shall 
be  acknowledged  head,  or  whether  the  union  shall 
be  one  of  equality.  Under  one  general  interpreta- 
tion of  the  marriage  relation  there  exist  in  nearly 
every  state  of  the  Union  laws  which  interpret  differ- 
ently the  details  of  this  relation.  How,  then,  can  an 
institution  like  coeducation,  concerning  which  the 
law  as  yet  has  taken  no  position,  and  in  reference  to 
which  custom  is  not  yet  fixed,  be  arbitrarily  limited 
and  restricted  to  a  single  phase  of  relationship  ? 

Whether  students  shall  sit  together  in  the  same 
room  is  a  matter  of  mechanical  arrangement,  and 
is  to  be  adjusted  to  the  demands  of  the  situation. 
But  there  are,  as  already  hinted,  elements  which 


304      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

are  essential.  One  of  these  is  that  of  association. 
The  beUever  in  coeducation  may  certainly  stand 
firm  in  the  doctrine  that  association  of  the  sexes, 
rather  than  separation,  is  the  normal  sociological 
condition  in  the  years  that  are  called  preparatory 
years.  This  principle  will  be  strengthened,  and  to 
some  extent  determined,  by  the  acceptance  of  a  sec- 
ond principle,  namely,  that  for  women  there  shall  be 
provided  instruction  on  equal  terms  with  men.  In- 
asmuch as  both  of  these  principles  depend  for  effi- 
ciency upon  administration,  we  may  go  a  step  farther 
and  agree  that  this  instruction,  provided  for  men 
and  women  associated  together  on  equal  terms,  shall 
be  under  a  single  management,  in  order  thus  to  be 
sure  that  the  terms  shall  be  equal.  These,  then,  are 
the  three  essential  elements:  association,  equaHty, 
and  the  same  administration. 

It  is  clearly  impossible  for  coeducation  to  exist 
without  association  of  any  kind.  It  will  be  just  as 
great  a  violation  of  the  idea  involved  in  coeducation 
to  provide  one  grade  of  work  for  men  and  another 
for  women,  or  to  assign  to  either  sex  special  privileges. 
It  would  be  impracticable  for  the  state  to  take  gen- 
eral charge  of  the  education  of  men  and  to  assign 
the  work  of  women  to  private  corporations  or  to  the 
church,  because  in  this  way  there  would  not  only  be 
failure  to  secure  association,-  but  also  failure  to 
secure  equal  terms.  Granting  these  three  essential 
elements,  it  remains  to  consider  some  of  the  condi- 
tions present  in  certain  institutions  which  require, 


COEDUCATION  305 

and  indeed  demand,  variation  under  these  general 
provisions. 

An  important  factor  which  up  to  this  time  has 
received  small  attention  is  the  question  of  location  in 
a  city.  Heretofore  the  experiment,  if  it  is  to  be 
called  such,  has  been  tried  exclusively  in  small  cities 
or  towns.  The  University  of  Chicago  thus  far  pre- 
sents the  only  case  of  a  coeducational  institution  of 
higher  learning  located  in  a  city  of  more  than  a 
milHon  people.  It  is  readily  granted  that  a  great 
city,  Uke  Boston,  New  York,  or  Chicago,  offers  in- 
comparable advantages,  if  these  are  utiHzed  in  con- 
nection with  certain  grades  of  higher  work.  It  is 
just  as  true  that  the  same  elements,  which  constitute 
advantage  in  some  particulars,  prove  to  be  the 
source  of  disadvantage  in  others.  It  is  manifestly 
more  difficult  to  secure  mental  repose  and  attention 
to  intellectual  interests  in  the  midst  of  distraction. 
Safeguards  must  be  provided  for  students,  especially 
those  of  inexperience,  while  they  are  learning  to  use 
safeguards  for  themselves.  The  problem  of  coedu- 
cation in  an  institution  located  in  a  large  city  is 
altogether  different  from  that  which  presents  itself 
in  a  small  city  or  town. 

To  what  has  been  said  there  may  be  added  also 
the  fact  that  association  in  an  institution  located  in 
a  city  rests  upon  principles  accepted  in  the  society 
of  a  city  Hfe.  These  are  very  different  from  the 
principles  adopted  in  town  or  village  life.  In  the 
latter,  one  is  expected  to  know  his  next-door  neigh- 


3o6      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

bor;  and  for  the  very  reason  that  he  lives  next  to 
him  there  is  more  or  less  of  relationship ;  but  in  city- 
life  one  is  under  no  obhgation  to  know  his  neighbor 
or  to  associate  with  him.  The  lines  of  separation 
are  entirely  different.  Social  Hfe  itself  is  different; 
and  the  urban  institution  is  compelled  to  share  this 
marked  difference. 

Another  element  which  has  not  yet  been  fairly 
tested  is  that  connected  with  large  numbers.  As  a 
rule,  coeducation  has  operated  thus  far  only  in  smaller 
bodies  of  students.  The  time  has  come  to  test  its 
efficiency  when  applied  in  connection  with  large 
numbers.  Here  again  no  one  can  deny  the  many 
advantages  that  are  found  in  the  association  of  large 
numbers,  nor  will  any  one,  on  the  other  hand,  deny 
that  these  advantages  may  themselves  become  a 
source  of  disturbance  and  disadvantage.  It  does 
not  require  a  long  consideration  of  the  question  to 
recognize  the  fact  that,  while  a  body  of  two  thousand 
men  or  two  thousand  women  may  be  directed  with 
a  minimum  of  disadvantage  and  a  maximum  of 
advantage,  it  might  be  quite  different  if  a  body  of 
four  thousand  students  was  constituted  wholly  of 
men  or  of  women.  Promiscuity  in  the  case  of  men 
has  no  serious  disadvantage;  nor  will  it  be  injurious 
in  the  case  of  women;  but  promiscuity  of  men  and 
women  in  a  large  undifferentiated  mass  is  a  problem 
of  an  entirely  different  character. 

A  school  system  or  a  library  system  eminently 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  a  city  of  fifty  or  a  hundred 


COEDUCATION  307 

thousand  people  will  utterly  fail,  though  enlarged, 
to  meet  the  needs  of  a  city  of  one  or  two  mil- 
hons  of  people.  In  the  latter  case,  as  experience 
has  shown,  the  entire  administration  must  be 
changed.  In  truth,  the  word  "change"  does  not 
describe  the  fact.  A  system  admirably  adapted  to 
a  smaller  city  cannot  be  expanded  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  a  large  city.  An  entirely  new  system  must 
be  introduced.  The  factor  of  large  numbers  will 
seriously  modify  the  administration  of  any  and  every 
kind  of  effort.  The  organization  from  first  to  last 
must  be  based  on  di£ferent  principles.  It  is  quite 
clear,  from  even  a  brief  experience,  that  what  is  true 
in  other  Hnes  of  administrative  work  holds  good  also 
in  reference  to  the  question  under  consideration. 
Entirely  new  adjustments  must  be  discovered  and 
be  put  into  operation  in  order  to  adapt  coeducation, 
as  it  is  now  comprehended,  to  the  needs  of  large 
bodies  of  students. 

Still  another  factor  entering  into  the  problem  is 
the  question  of  the  age  of  students.  In  the  high 
school,  whether  in  city  or  in  town,  the  pupils  Hve  at 
home.  The  social  Hfe  of  the  home  and  of  the  church 
predominates.  The  high  school  is  responsible  only 
during  the  hours  of  actual  classroom  work — four  or 
five  hours  a  day.  In  the  first  years  of  college  hfe  the 
case  is  different.  Boys  and  girls,  only  a  Uttle  more 
mature  than  those  of  the  high-school  period,  come 
together  without  the  home  restraint  and  without  the 
home  influence.     They  come  from  a  score  or  more 


3o8      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  states  and  enter  into  a  community,  having  a  per- 
sonal acquaintance,  in  each  case,  with  only  a  few 
who  compose  the  community. 

Moreover,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  it  is  the  first 
experience  of  freedom  from  the  supervision  of  par- 
ents. The  situation  under  these  circumstances  is 
particularly  delicate  and  difficult.  It  is  the  very 
urgent  desire  of  educators  today  that  boys  and  girls 
shall  enter  college  even  earlier  than  they  have  been 
accustomed  to  do  hitherto,  and  when  it  becomes  the 
rule  in  families  of  certain  financial  competence  for 
daughters  to  go  to  college,  as  it  has  been  for  the  sons 
to  go,  they  will  be  able  to  enter  at  an  earUer  age  than 
heretofore.  The  average  freshman  coming  from  the 
city  is  younger  than  the  average  freshman  coming 
from  the  country.  Unless  one  is  ready  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  coeducational  method,  followed  in 
western  institutions,  itself  an  altogether  modern  inno- 
vation, represents  a  perfect  ideal,  beyond  which 
there  can  be  no  progress,  and  of  which  there  can  be 
no  modification,  no  adaptation  to  changed  condi- 
tions, he  must  earnestly  and  frankly  face  the  new 
elements  thus  presented  and  consider  how,  in  all 
truth,  the  present  coeducational  plan  may  be  im- 
proved. 

Only  one  of  these  conditions  will  present  itself 
to  some  institutions ;  perhaps  two  of  them  may  exist 
in  others.  In  the  institution  with  which  I  am  myself 
connected  all  three  have  arisen,  and  have  compelled 
consideration.     If  the  question  of  numbers -is  con- 


COEDUCATION  309 

sidered,  and  plans  are  taken  up  for  dividing  the 
student  community  as  a  whole  into  smaller  units,  in 
order  that  each  distinct  class  may  receive  that  kind 
of  oversight  and  guidance,  and  that  type  of  moral  and 
physical  instruction,  which  are  most  conducive  to 
the  highest  education  of  the  individual,  the  basis  of 
cleavage  must  first  be  estabHshed.  Lines  of  sepa- 
ration naturally  will  be  partly  those  that  divide 
younger  from  older  students.  But  will  they  not 
inevitably  go  farther  than  this  and  include  those 
that  separate  men  from  women?  And  is  this  not 
entirely  natural,  provided  that  it  is  subject  to  the 
condition  that  men  and  women  shall  have  equal 
opportunities,  and  that  the  separation  shall  not  be 
carried  to  unnecessary  extremes? 

In  concluding  this  statement,  it  is  necessary  to 
refer  to  two  or  three  other  matters  which  are  more 
or  less  closely  connected  with  the  problems  thus  far 
presented.  Many  advocates  of  coeducation  have 
assumed,  and  the  system,  as  it  is  frequently  advo- 
cated, certainly  justifies  the  assumption,  that  men 
and  women  should  be  trained  to  be  just  as  nearly 
aHke  as  possible.  This  has  been  one  of  the  greatest 
evils  of  the  system  as  thus  far  appHed.  Why  should 
we  attempt  to  train  women  to  be  Hke  men,  or  men 
like  women  ?  Is  there  not  a  serious  loss  if  the  uni- 
versity places  too  much  emphasis  on  what  they  have 
in  common,  and  gives  too  Httle  weight  to  the  fact 
that  in  many  respects  those  essential  common  inter- 
ests may  be  best  promoted  separately?    What  is 


3IO      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

called  identical  instruction  is  probably  something 
legendary.    No  two  instructors  ever  give  the  same 
course  in  exactly  the  same  way.    It  is  hardly  possible 
for  a  teacher  to  give  to  a  class  of  women  the  same 
course  of  instruction  that  he  would  give  to  a  class 
of  men.    If  he  is  a  true  teacher,  he  will  adapt  him-.:; 
self  to  the  different  mental  attitudes  of  men  andi 
women.    The  more  successful  he  is  as  a  teacher,  the  y 
more  varied  will  be  the  instruction  given.  -' 

A  sociological  fact  must  also  be  considered.  Girls 
from  sixteen  to  twenty  years  of  age  are  physically 
and  socially  older  than  boys  of  the  same  age.  They 
are  more  mature.  Their  social  interests  are  higher 
than  those  of  the  boys  of  corresponding  age.  In 
view  of  this,  girls  are  Ukely  to  be  patronizing  toward 
the  boys,  and  the  latter  are  self-conscious  and  em- 
barrassed when  thrown  into  company  with  the  girls. 
This  furnishes  some  basis  for  the  opinion  that  during 
a  certain  period  in  the  development  of  the  boy  it  is 
better  that  he  should  associate  with  girls  of  a  younger 
age  rather  than  with  those  of  his  own  age.  The 
period  is  a  short  one,  and  corresponds  in  general  to 
that  of  the  first  two  college  years.  An  opportunity 
at  this  time  to  associate  more  exclusively  with  those 
of  his  own  sex  will  surely  be  appreciated  by  many 
boys. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  suggest  that  it  is  not  safe 
to  press  too  closely  the  analogy  between  college  life 
and  family  life.  Many  of  the  ideals  of  family  Ufe 
may  be  cultivated  in  connection  with  college  Hfe, 


COEI>UCATION  311 

but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  ordinary  family 
is  made  up  of  persons  of  different  ages,  ranging  from 
the  young  to  the  old.  In  college  Hfe  the  range  is 
much  more  restricted,  the  difference  being  at  the 
most,  in  ordinary  cases,  three  or  four  years. 

Still  further,  as  has  been  said,  there  is  the  question 
of  numbers.  If  the  college  class  is  only  a  little  larger 
than  a  family  of  good  size,  there  is  much  larger  scope 
for  the  appUcation  of  the  methods  and  poHcy  of 
family  Hfe  than  in  a  class  or  community  made  up  of 
one  or  two  thousand. 

Coeducation  demands  for  its  acceptance  as  a 
principle,  association  of  men  and  women  in  educa- 
tional work,  on  absolutely  equal  terms,  and  under 
the  same  general  management.  I  trust  that  I  have 
been  able  to  point  out  that,  aside  from  these  funda- 
mental principles,  there  is  not  only  ample  room, 
but  a  stern  demand,  for  liberty  of  action  as  well  as 
of  thought,  in  those  things  which  pertain  to  the 
further  development  of  this  policy.  The  question 
is  no  longer.  Shall  there  be  coeducation  ?  but.  How 
shall  the  principles  of  coeducation  be  adjusted  to 
particular  situations  ? 


XIX 

ALLEGED  LUXURY  AMONG  COLLEGE 
STUDENTS^ 

The  word  "luxury"  is  a  relative,  not  an  absolute, 
term.  What  would  seem  poverty  to  the  average 
student  of  one  institution  might  seem  luxury  to  the 
average  student  of  another.  What  would  actually 
be  poverty  for  one  student  might  be  luxury  for 
another  in  the  same  institution.  I  have  known 
students  in  large  institutions  who  would  live  luxuri- 
ously, from  their  point  of  view,  on  $300  a  jear,  and 
I  have  known  other  students  who  would  be  quite 
limited  with  an  allowance  of  $1,200  a  year.  A  two- 
dollar-a-week  room  is  luxury  for  some  men,  while 
others  find  themselves  cramped  in  a  suite  which 
costs  $400  a  year.  This  holds  good  even  in  the  case 
of  those  who  indulge  in  vice.  One  man  will  go  to 
ruin  on  a  very  small  sum,  while  another,  of  equally 
evil  propensities,  will  find  it  impossible  to  do  much 
mischief  with  a  sum  many  times  as  large.  In  using 
the  term,  we  must  consider  the  temperaments  of 
different  men  and  the  temptations  of  different 
environments. 

That  more  money  is  spent  by  college  students 
today  than  was  spent  forty  years  ago  is  unquestion- 
able.   This  is  true,  not  only  because  people  every- 

I  Copyright,  1901,  by  the  Century  Co. 
312 


LUXURY  AMONG  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  313 

where  spend  more  money  than  in  former  times, 
but  also  because  the  men  who  go  to  college  now  are 
not  so  prevailingly  students  for  the  ministry  as  in 
past  days.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  Hkewise,  that 
it  is  today  more  customary  for  the  children  of  wealthy 
and  well-to-do  parents  to  go  to  college,  and  that 
five  boys  go  to  college  where  one  used  to  go. 

The  average  boy  of  wealthy  parentage  Hves  at 
college  less  luxuriously  than  he  would  live  at  hom^. 
He  is  often  satisfied  with  table  board  which  he  would 
not  endure  at  home,  for  the  reason  that  he  wishes 
to  live  with  certain  men  who  are  not  able  to  pay  a 
higher  price.  His  college  room  is  rarely  as  large  or 
as  well  furnished  as  his  room  at  home.  He  learns 
a  kind  of  life  which  at  home  he  would  never  have 
known — a  life  in  many  particulars  more  rigid,  less 
easy-going;  more  independent,  less  effeminate. 
That  effeminacy  which  luxury  so  often  produces 
seldom  affects  the  college  man.  And,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  average  boy  who  is  poor  lives  far  better 
at  college  than  he  would  have  lived  at  home.  For 
one  reason,  the  poor  boy  gets  far  more  for  his  money 
than  does  the  rich  one,  and  it  is  right  that  he  should. 
The  college  boy,  furthermore,  soon  learns  that 
neither  the  possession  of  money  nor  the  lack  of  it 
determines  his  relative  place  in  the  college  com- 
munity. For  college  is  a  leveler  of  distinctions.  It 
exalts  the  valleys,  and  makes  low  the  mountains  and 
hills.  It  makes  the  crooked  straight  and  the  rough 
places  even.     In  college  life  there  is  much  give  and 


314      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

take — I  do  not  have  reference  to  money.  There  is 
an  adjustment  of  man  to  man  and  of  group  to 
group,  and,  generally  speaking,  every  man  finds  his 
true  place. 

A  man  may  live  luxuriously  and  not  become 
either  effeminate  or  vicious,  for  luxury  does  not 
necessarily  imply  vice.  Such  a  man,  however, 
must  have  a  strong  character,  and  in  such  living 
his  character  will  become  all  the  stronger.  In  col- 
leges located  in  villages,  however,  whether  the  vil- 
lages be  large  or  small,  luxury  is  more  apt  to  mean 
vicious  life  than  in  an  institution  located  in  a  city. 
A  student  has  few  opportunities  to  spend  money 
legitimately  in  a  village,  and  if  a  large  sum  is  being 
spent,  it  is  morally  certain  that  the  results  are  evil. 
In  a  city,  on  the  other  hand,  he  may  spend  a  very 
considerable  sum  quite  innocently.  One  man  might 
spend  a  thousand  dollars  with  real  benefit,  while 
another,  with  different  habits,  could  not  possibly 
spend  such  a  sum  without  serious  injury — I  mean 
without  faUing  into  vice.  Luxury,  therefore,  though 
it  may  prepare  the  way  for  a  weak  character  to  fall 
into  evil  habits,  may  also  mean  only  the  gratification 
of  highly  developed  tastes  in  some  quite  legitimate 
direction. 

Is  the  college  wholly  to  blame  in  case  men  have 
suffered  because  their  college  life  has  been  too 
luxurious?  In  fact,  the  college  may  not  be  at  all 
blameworthy.  For  it  was  not  the  colleges,  but  the 
parent,  that  furnished  the  money,  and  without  the 


LUXURY  AMONG  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  315 

money  to  spend  no  luxury  would  have  been  possible. 
Critics  of  the  college,  especially  if  they  are  parents, 
should  give  heed  to  this  point.  I  have  known  par- 
ents who  continued  an  allowance  of  $1,500  or  $1,800 
a  year,  although  I  begged  them,  for  the  sake  of  the 
boy,  to  cut  it  down  to  $600. 

Is  there  any  real  danger  that  college  life  is  becom- 
ing too  luxurious  ?  If  I  had  in  mind  only  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  wealthy  parents,  I  would  say  yes; 
for  if  the  college  student  class  consisted  of  this  ele- 
ment exclusively  or  in  large  part,  the  danger  would 
be  very  great.  It  cannot  be  denied,  moreover,  that 
the  number  of  this  class  of  students  grows  larger 
every  year.  But  when  I  think  of  the  still  larger 
number  of  young  men  and  women  who  are  actually 
swarming  into  most  of  our  institutions — boys  and 
girls  who  must  live  on  a  mere  pittance  (often  secured 
by  the  sacrifice  of  a  parent),  and  who  are  eager  to 
perform  any  service,  of  however  menial  a  character 
it  may  be,  to  obtain  the  bare  necessities  of  life — I 
have  no  fear  whatever  that  the  average  college  life 
will  become  too  luxurious. 

In  any  case,  the  college  is  able  to  prevent  any 
serious  danger  of  this  kind.  In  my  opinion,  the 
whole  trend  of  college  work  makes  this  danger  a 
fancied  one.  College  work  today  is  something  quite 
different  from  that  of  a  quarter-century  ago.  It 
may  not  be  more  difficult,  but  it  is  more  real  and 
serious.  Most  college  men  today  know  what  their 
life-work  is  to  be,   and  their  college  training  is 


3i6      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

arranged  to  some  extent  with  this  in  view.  This 
secures  an  interest  in  work  and  a  zest  for  it  which 
makes  temptation  more  easily  resisted.  They  see 
the  practical  connection  of  work  with  life,  and  this 
removes,  at  least  in  a  measure,  the  possibility  of  the 
danger  of  too  luxurious  living. 

As  is  often  remarked,  the  atmosphere  of  the  col- 
lege is  the  most  democratic  possible.  This,  the 
most  precious  possession  of  our  American  college, 
should  be  zealously  cherished,  and  as  long  as  it 
continues  to  exist  Httle  fear  of  luxury  need  be  felt. 
In  the  practical  work  and  working  of  the  college 
there  is  much  substantial  teaching  of  an  economic 
sort.  Many  men  learn  how  to  live  and  how  not  to 
live,  and  though  not  every  man  learns  to  apply  these 
lessons  at  the  time,  there  are  few  indeed  who  are  not 
strongly  influenced  by  the  simple,  inexpensive,  and 
sturdy  life  of  the  body  of  professors  and  students  in 
the  midst  of  whom  their  lot  is  cast.  As  I  have  ob- 
served extravagance  in  the  world,  I  have  seldom 
seen  its  worst  phases  among  those  who  were  college- 
bred,  for  the  educated  taste  of  a  college  man  for- 
bids it. 


XX 

THE  SCIENTIFIC  STUDY  OF  THE 
STUDENT^ 

A  NEW  stage  in  the  life  of  an  institution  is,  at 
the  same  time,  like  and  unhke  a  new  stage  in  the 
life  of  an  individual.  The  likeness  rests  in  the 
fact  that  in  both  cases  the  new  stage  indicates 
growth  based  upon  experience  of  life,  and,  therefore, 
unless  abnormal  influences  prevail,  a  forward 
progress.  This  progress  signifies,  as  the  result  of 
experience,  greater  breadth,  and,  as  the  result  of 
the  lapse  of  time,  greater  strength.  There  may- 
have  been  experience  without  a  corresponding 
breadth;  and  there  may  have  been  lapse  of  time 
without  corresponding  gain  of  strength;  but  without 
experience  and  without  time  there  cannot  be  breadth 
or  strength.  The  unlikeness  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that,  while  the  individual,  in  becoming  old,  of  neces- 
sity loses  the  properties  of  youth,  and  with  them 
the  possibilities  of  self-renewal,  the  institution, 
however  old,  may  take  on  new  youth,  and,  being 
thus  old  and  young,  may  have  all  the  strength  and 
experience  of  age,  together  with  the  freshness  and 
vigor  of  youth. 

In  the  life  of  Brown  University  we  celebrate 

I  Read  at  the  inauguration  of  Rev.  W.  H.  P.  Faunce  as  pres- 
ident of  Brown  University,  October  17,  1899. 

317 


3i8      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

today  a  new  stage,  and  the  celebration  takes  on 
significance  because  it  is  a  new  stage  in  the  life  of  an 
institution  already  old — an  institution  whose  his- 
tory is  marked  by  many  stages  of  glorious  achieve- 
ment. It  would  seem  that  at  such  a  time  all  the 
mighty  forces  of  this  magnificent  past  were  still  in 
existence,  waiting  only  to  be  summoned;  and  that 
these  forces,  with  their  collective  influence,  might 
easily  be  wielded  in  conjunction  with  the  new 
forces  which  are  now  being  set  in  motion.  A  heri- 
tage from  the  past  is  either  a  great  blessing  or  a  great 
curse.  In  this  instance  it  is  a  blessing  the  greatness 
of  which  the  future  prosperity  of  the  institution  will 
only  make  more  certain. 

This  occasion  has,  at  least  for  many  of  us,  a  peculiar 
significance  in  the  fact  that  we  celebrate  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  period  in  the  life  of  an  institution 
which  represents  a  type  of  education  by  which  our 
country  has  been  so  signally  blessed.  The  New 
England  college  stands  second  only  to  the  church  in 
the  beneficent  influence  which  it  has  exerted  through- 
out the  length  and  the  breadth  of  these  United  States. 
This  type  of  institution  has,  indeed,  controlled  the 
lower  and  the  higher  education  of  the  entire  land. 
It  is  the  New  England  college  that  has  given  the 
New  England  states  the  supremacy  in  higher  life 
and  thought.  It  has  been  men  trained  in  the  New 
England  colleges  who  have  founded  similar  colleges 
throughout  the  middle,  western,  and  southern 
states.    It  is  to  this  type  of  institution  that  the  coun- 


SCIENTIFIC  STUDY  OF  THE  STUDENT      319 

try  at  large  owes  the  measure  of  intelligence  with 
which  affairs  of  government,  as  well  as  private 
affairs,  have  been  so  admirably  administered, 
and  that  the  church  is  indebted  for  the  steady 
forward  movement  which  has  characterized  its 
history. 

This  institution,  under  whose  roof  we  are  gathered, 
together  with  others  of  hke  purpose  and  organiza- 
tion, has  lived  a  hfe  so  strong,  and  so  helpful  to  our 
American  humanity,  that  any  event  in  this  life 
which  indicates  renewed  vigor  or  strengthened 
activity  deserves  to  be  celebrated  as  an  event  of 
high  and  holy  character. 

It  seems  to  me,  however,  for  still  another  reason, 
that  this  hour  is  one  of  solemn  significance.  The 
period  upon  which  the  institution  now  enters, 
under  the  guidance  of  its  new  leader,  is,  essentially, 
synchronous  with  the  beginning  of  a  new  century. 
The  first  and  last  years  of  every  great  division  of 
time  are  felt  to  be  full  of  meaning.  The  new  admin- 
istration of  this  university  begins  with  the  opening 
years  of  the  twentieth  century,  and  will  justly  share 
the  significance  of  these  years.  The  progress  of 
the  world  at  large  during  the  closing  half-century 
has  been  phenomenal.  As  examples  of  this  progress 
we  are  accustomed  to  cite  the  advances  made  in 
methods  of  transportation  and  communication. 
The  college  man  knows  that  the  progress  in  the 
college  world  has  been  equally  great.  The  trans- 
formation in  method  and  matter  of  college  work 


320      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

wrought  within  fifty  years  has  been  as  marked  as 
any  that  has  taken  place  in  the  business  world. 
And  the  principles  underlying  these  changes  are 
for  the  most  part  identical  in  the  business  and 
the  college  worlds.  If,  then,  in  these  last  moments 
of  the  nineteenth  century  we  stand  amazed  at  what 
has  taken  place  in  the  sphere  of  commerce,  we  may 
likewise  be  astounded  at  what  has  taken  place  in 
the  sphere  of  education.  And  it  is  at  this  peculiar 
juncture  that  the  new  president  takes  up  his  work. 
It  is  for  him,  therefore,  to  appropriate  all  that  has 
been  estabHshed,  and  with  open  mind  to  await  the 
unveiling  of  the  secrets  of  the  new  century — secrets 
which  in  number  and  importance  will  surely  equal 
those  of  the  days  gone  by. 

In  this  connection  I  may  be  permitted  to  dwell, 
for  a  moment,  on  one  of  the  many  features  which, 
as  the  signs  of  the  times  would  seem  to  indicate, 
will  characterize  the  twentieth-century  college 
education. 

This  feature  is,  itself,  one  of  several  outgrowths 
of  the  application  of  the  doctrine  of  individuahsm. 
Individualism,  in  education,  as  distinguished  from 
collectivism,  is  the  greatest  contribution  of  the 
nineteenth  century  to  the  cause  of  college  education. 
The  application  of  the  doctrine  is  seen  in  numerous 
modifications  already  introduced,  as  in  the  intro- 
duction of  the  elective  system  in  courses  of  instruc- 
tion, the  encouragement  of  officers  of  instruction 
to  specialize  in  this  or  that  department,  or  in  this 


SCIENTIFIC  STUDY  OF  THE  STUDENT      321 

or  that  subdivision  of  a  department.  The  work 
of  the  student  has  been,  in  large  measure,  trans- 
formed as  a  result  of  the  wide  choice  of  subjects 
placed  before  him,  and  by  the  freedom  given  him 
to  make  his  own  choice.  But,  now,  in  order  that 
the  freedom  may  not  be  abused,  and  in  order  that 
the  student  may  receive  the  assistance  so  essential 
to  his  highest  success,  another  step  in  the  onward 
evolution  will  take  place.  This  step  will  be  the 
scientific  study  of  the  student  himself.  Today  the 
professor's  energy  is  practically  exhausted  in  his 
study  of  the  subject  which  he  is  to  present  to  the 
student.  In  the  time  that  is  coming  provision 
must  be  made,  either  by  the  regular  instructors 
or  by  those  appointed  especially  for  the  purpose, 
to  study  in  detail  the  man  or  woman  to  whom 
instruction  is  offered.  ■  Just  as  at  present,  in  many 
institutions,  every  student  upon  entrance  receives 
a  careful  physical  examination,  for  the  discovery  of 
possible  physical  weaknesses,  and  for  the  provision 
of  special  corrective  exercises;  and  just  as  from 
time  to  time  such  student  is  re-examined  physically, 
to  note  the  progress  of  such  remedies  as  have  been 
applied,  or  to  discover  the  rise  of  new  complications ; 
so  in  the  future  it  will  be  a  regular  function  of  the 
college  to  make  a  general  diagnosis  of  each  student. 
This  will  be  made  (i)  with  special  reference 
to  his  character — to  find  out  whether  he  is  responsible, 
or  careless,  or  shiftless,  or  perhaps  vicious;  (2)  with 
special  reference  likewise  to  his  intellectual  capacity 


322      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

— to  discover  whether  he  is  unusually  able,  or  bright, 
or  average,  or  slow,  or  dull;  whether  he  is  industri- 
ous, or  irregular,  or  lazy;  (3)  with  reference  to  his 
special  intellectual  characteristics — to  learn  whether 
he  is  independent  and  original,  or  one  who  works 
largely  along  routine  lines;  whether  his  logical 
sense  is  keen,  or  average,  or  dull;  whether  his  ideas 
are  flexible,  or  easily  diverted,  or  rigid;  whether 
he  has  control  of  his  mind,  or  is  given  to  mind- 
wandering,  and  to  what  extent  he  has  power  to 
overcome  difficulties;  (4)  with  reference  to  his 
special  capacities  and  tastes — to  determine  whether 
these  are  evenly  balanced,  or  whether  there  exists 
a  marked  preference  for  some  special  subject; 
whether  he  prefers  those  aspects  of  study  which 
are  of  the  book  type,  or  those  of  a  mechanical 
or  constructive  type,  or  those  of  a  laboratory  type; 
whether- his  special  gift  lies  along  lines  of  an  aesthetic 
character,  or  those  of  a  literary  or  scientific  or  philo- 
sophical character;  whether  his  special  aptitude, 
supposing  it  to  be  in  the  literary  field,  lies  in  criticism, 
or  interpretation,  or  creative  work;  whether  his 
preference  in  scientific  Unes  is  for  the  observational 
or  the  experimental  side  of  work,  or  for  general 
principles;  and,  finally,  (5)  with  reference  to  the 
social  side  of  his  nature — to  judge  whether  he  is  fond 
of  companionship ;  whether  he  is  a  leader  or  follower 
among  his  fellows;  whether  he  is  a  man  of  affairs, 
or  devotes  himself  exclusively  to  his  studies;  the 
character  of  his  recreation;  the  way  in  which  he 


SCIENTIFIC  STUDY  OF  THE  STUDENT      323 

spends  his  leisure  hours ;  whether  he  is  compelled  to 
work  for  self-support,  or  for  the  support  of  others. 

These  details,  and  many  others  which  I  may  not 
now  describe,  will  be  secured  in  various  ways: 
in  part  from  preparatory  teachers,  in  part  from 
parents,  in  part  from  the  student  himself,  in  part 
also  from  careful  observation  of  his  work  in  the 
first  months  of  his  college  hfe.  It  will  be  no  easy 
task;  but  the  difficulties  will  not  be  greater  than  its 
importance. 

Such  a  diagnosis,  when  made,  would  serve  as 
the  basis  for  the  selection  of  studies,  in  the  different 
stages  of  advancement;  for  it  is  as  certain  that  the 
student  up  to  a  certain  age  should  be  required  to  do 
work  for  which  he  has  no  special  taste  or  ability, 
as  that  after  such  an  age  he  should  be  guided  to 
take  that  for  which  he  has  special  taste  or  abihty. 
The  facts  set  forth  in  this  diagnosis  will  be  of  para- 
mount value  also  in  determining  the  character  of 
the  instructor  under  whom  he  should  study;  for  it  is 
clearly  manifest  that  students  of  different  disposition, 
and  of  different  attitudes  of  mind,  cannot  work 
with  equal  success  under  the  same  instructor  even 
in  the  same  subject.  It  is  here  that  the  large  institu- 
tion with  several  instructors  in  a  given  department 
will  have  the  advantage  over  the  smaller  institution. 
For  it  is  as  important  that  students  should  have 
election  in  the  matter  of  teachers  as  in  the  matter 
of  subjects.  A  student  who  will  utterly  fail  to  do 
good  work  under  one  instructor  will  often  do  excel- 


324      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

lent  work  in  the  same  subject  under  an  instructor 
of  a  different  temperament,  though  both  instructors 
are  of  equal  ability  as  teachers. 

The  data  thus  gathered  will  determine  the  char- 
acter of  all  advice  given  the  student  and  of  any  pun- 
ishment administered;  for  punishment  as  well  as 
advice  must  be  adapted  to  each  individual  case,  and 
no  two  cases  can  possibly  be  ahke. 

This  material,  likewise,  will  determine  in  large 
measure  the  career  of  the  student.  The  most 
pathetic  experience  of  college  life  is  to  find  a  man 
at  the  end  of  his  college  course  as  uncertain  with 
respect  to  his  life-work  as  he  was  at  the  beginning; 
an  uncertainty  due  for  the  most  part  to  the  fact  that 
he  has  not  yet  discovered  his  powers  and  tastes; 
that  he  has  not  studied  himself  so  as  to  know  him- 
self; that  he  has  not  been  studied  by  the  instructors 
so  as  to  be  known  by  them.  Here,  in  some  degree, 
is  the  difference  between  college  and  university. 
The  college  is  the  place  for  the  student  to  study  and 
test  himself,  in  order  that  he  may  learn  for  what 
God  made  him;  the  college  is  the  place  for  the 
instructor  to  study  each  student,  and  to  point  out 
his  weak  and  his  strong  points,  that  the  former 
may  be  corrected  and  the  latter  still  more  greatly 
strengthened.  The  university  is  the  place  for  men 
who  have  come  to  know  themselves,  and  who  have 
learned  what  they  can  do  and  what  they  cannot  do, 
to  study  in  the  line  of  their  chosen  calling.  For, 
strictly  speaking,  university  life  begins  only  when  a 


SCIENTIFIC  STUDY  OF  THE  STUDENT      325 

man  has  discovered  the  subject  or  subjects  which 
are  to  be  connected  with  his  life-work.  No  man  • 
has  any  business  to  enter  the  university  until  his 
life-work  has  been  determined.  And  to  this  end 
some  remedy  must  be  found  for  the  confusion  as  to 
the  respective  functions  of  college  and  university 
which  now  exists  almost  universally  in  our  country. 

This  feature  of  twentieth-century  college  educa- 
tion will  come  to  be  regarded  as  of  greatest  impor- 
tance, and  fifty  years  hence  will  prevail  as  widely  as  '<-- 
it  is  now  lacking.     It  is  the  next  step  in  the  evolution 
of  the  principle  of  individualism,  and  its  application 
will,  in  due  time,  introduce  order  and  system  into 
our  educational  work,  where  now  only  chaos  is  to 
be  found.     May  the  institution  under  whose  auspices"^  7 
we  meet  today  be  one  of  the  first  to  make  this  scien-  /    ^ 
tific   study  of   the   student   a   part   of   its  regular  | 
work.  -^ 

I  bring  on  this  occasion  the  greetings  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago,  and  also  those  of  the  great  West 
and  Northwest  to  which  Chicago  is  the  gate  of 
entrance — a  territory  which  includes  many  institu- 
tions of  learning,  and  which  numbers  among  its 
citizens  many  alumni  of  Brown  University.  *  The 
West  gratefully  acknowledges  its  debt  of  gratitude 
to  the  East  for  the  eastern  life  and  thought  which, 
transplanted  and  adjusted  to  its  new  environment, 
we  now  call  western  life  and  thought.  The  West 
gladly  acknowledges  the  particular  debt  which  it 
owes  to  Brown  University  for  the  many  men  of 


326      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

strong  character  and  forceful  influence  whom  Brown 
has  contributed  to  the  uplifting  of  the  West. 

And,  finally,  the  West  unites  with  the  East  in  a 
prayer  for  the  long  and  prosperous  administration 
of  the  distinguished  man  who  now  becomes  the 
president  of  Brown  University. 


XXI 

THE  COLLEGE  OFFICER  AND  THE  COL- 
LEGE  STUDENT' 

The  growth  of  interest  shown  in  the  field  of 
higher  education  during  thirty  years  or  so  has  been 
as  marked  as  the  growth  in  the  industrial  world. 
The  changes  which  have  come  about  in  connection 
with  this  growth,  and  in  part  as  a  consequence  of  it, 
are  greater  than  can  be  appreciated  without  a  careful 
comparison,  point  by  point,  between  the  usage 
of  today  and  that  of  a  quarter-century  ago.  A 
multitude  of  agencies,  all  of  which  relate  themselves 
to  the  thought  of  democracy,  and  which  owe  their 
life  to  the  spirit  of  democracy,  have  exerted  influence 
upon  the  minutest  details  of  higher  educational  life 
and  method.  The  changes,  therefore,  in  the  educa- 
tional field  are  due  to  the  same  causes,  and  indeed 
are  the  same  changes  as  those  which  have  taken 
place  in  every  kind  of  life  about  us. 

Thirty  years  ago  there  were  no  universities  nor 
large  institutions.  Harvard  had  655  students; 
Yale,  664;  Michigan,  432.  The  American  univer- 
sity is  something  entirely  new;  and,  side  by  side  with 
its  development,  important  modifications  in  the 
method  and  aim  of  college  work  have  come  in. 
No  one  questions  for  a  single  moment  the  fact  that 

I  Read  at  the  inauguration  of  Professor  Rush  Rhees  as  presi- 
dent of  Rochester  University,  October  ii,  1900. 

327 


328      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

these  changes  in  general  have  served  to  advance  the 
cause  of  education;  and  yet  one  will  be  slow  to  make 
the  distinct  announcement  that  in  every  detail 
these  changes  have  proved  to  be  a  source  of  added 
strength.  What  I  have  in  mind  to  speak  of  today, 
however,  is  the  actual  relationship  which  exists, 
or  should  exist,  between  the  college  student  in  his 
student  life  and  the  college  professor.  I  use  the 
word  "college"  rather  than  the  word  "university." 
In  real  university  life  the  question  of  this  relation- 
ship is  one  which  has  not  yet  received  even  the 
slightest  consideration.  I  am  myself  persuaded 
that  in  the  university  as  well  as  in  the  college  the 
members  of  the  faculty  have  large  and  definite 
responsibilities  outside  of  those  pertaining  directly 
to  the  work  of  the  lecture-room;  but  the  oppor- 
tunity this  afternoon  permits  but  few  words  at  best, 
and  these  I  shall  restrict  to  the  college  life  as  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  the  university. 

The  college  professor  of  today  is  not  an  oflEicer 
of  the  state,  but  a  fellow-student.  The  truth  is 
that  he  is  not  an  officer  at  all,  although,  in  view  of 
the  old  traditions  or  with  a  new  meaning  for  the 
word,  the  term  may  be  employed.  The  higher 
institution  of  learning  is  not,  as  it  once  was,  an 
institution  empowered  to  try  its  students  for  civil 
or  criminal  offenses.  University  courts  are  a  remi- 
niscence of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  college  professor 
is  neither  a  judge  nor  a  member  of  a  jury.  He 
is  not  set  to  pass  judgment  on  the  conduct  of  the 


COLLEGE  OFFICER  AND  STUDENT         329 

student,  if  that  conduct  should  violate  the  state 
laws.  The  college  community  is  one  made  up  of 
older  and  younger  students,  all  of  whom  have 
joined  the  community  in  order  to  make  progress 
in  intellectual  hfe.  If  some  of  the  members  of  the 
community  for  good  reason  violate  its  common 
sentiment,  they  should  retire,  and  naturally  it 
will  be  the  older  members  of  the  community  who,  as 
fellow-students,  shall  have  most  to  do  with  deter- 
mining the  particular  spirit  that  shall  be  character- 
istic of  the  community.  In  that  incitement  which 
those  more  advanced  in  the  same  kinds  of  work  may 
furnish  to  those  who  follow,  in  the  sympathy  which 
binds  together  those  who  hold  interests  in  common, 
in  the  ambition  which  leads  a  student  to  emulate 
and  to  out-distance  fellow-students — in  all  these 
and  in  other  ways  the  college  professor  will  show 
himself  to  be  as  much  a  student  as  any  other  in 
the  college;  as  intense  a  worker,  as  sympathetic 
a  Hstener,  as  humble  a  learner  as  any  member  of  the 
community.  The  _.  only  difference  between  the 
professor  and  the  pupil  is  that  the  former  has  the 
advantage  of  maturity  and  of  experience.  This 
advantage  he  shares  unselfishly  with  his  fellow- 
student,  the  pupil.  Maybe  the  pupil  is  just  beginning 
his  work  along  these  higher  lines,  while  the  professor 
has  learned  long  since  that,  whatever  progress  he 
may  have  made,  he  is  still  only  on  the  border  lines 
of  knowledge  in  his  department.  The  college 
professor  who  has   not  the  student  spirit  should 


330      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

not  continue  his  college  work,  and,  if  he  have  the 
student  spirit,  then  he  is  a  fellow-student  with  all 
who  have  that  spirit.  The  idea  involved  in  the 
arbitrary  exercise  of  authority  as  an  officer  is  utterly 
opposed  to  the  student  spirit.  It  is  an  attitude  of 
mind  with  which  the  student  spirit  is  entirely 
inconsistent;  and  so,  today,  the  true  and  efficient 
college  instructor  is  only  an  older  fellow-student 
in  a  guild  made  up  of  members  all  of  whom,  if  they 
so  deserve,  retain  their  membership — are  truly 
fellow-students.  If  he  is  more  than  this,  he  is  not 
this;  if  he  is  less  than  this,  he  is  nothing, 
i  The  college  professor  today  is  not  an  officer  in 
loco  parentis.  It  is  an  old  and  a  widely  prevailing 
opinion  which  in  opposition  to  this  statement 
would  make  the  college  instructor  parent  for  the 
time  being  of  those  with  whom  he  is  to  associate. 
This  idea  is,  of  course,  closely  related  to  that  which 
has  just  been  mentioned.  Parents  who  have 
occupied  the  first  sixteen  or  eighteen  years  of  the 
life  of  the  prospective  pupil  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  convince  that  pupil  that  parental  disciphne  is 
something  to  be  dreaded  and  to  be  avoided,  some- 
thing mischievous  and  productive  of  every  evil, 
are  only  too  glad  to  turn  their  sons  and  daughters 
over  to  the  college,  with  the  understanding  that 
the  college  shall  now  assume  parental  authority. 
Such  parents,  in  transferring  this  dignified  and 
wide-reaching  function,  have  transferred,  in  these 
cases,  something  that  has  long  since  been  emptied 


COLLEGE  OFFICER  AND  STUDENT         331 

of  its  dignity  and  its  worth.  If  parental  authority 
has  been  rightly  exercised,  the  young  man  or  young 
woman  at  the  age  of  ei^teen  ought  to  be  free, 
within  the  limitations  of  conventional  life,  to  do  what 
seems  proper,  in  so  far  as  it  does  not  conflict  with 
the  general  sentiment  of  the  particular  community 
to  which  they  have  now  given  adherence.  If  the 
parental  authority  has  not  been  exercised  properly  , 
during  those  eighteen  years,  the  young  man  or 
young  woman  will  not  be  found  ready  to  submit  to 
artificial  authority  of  an  institutional  character  even 
for  a  moment. 

No,  the  college  instructor  is  not  a  parent,  nor 
does  he  have  the  authority  of  a  parent.  Parents 
in  these  days  are  themselves  wise  enough  to  know 
that  at  the  college  age  the  time  has  come  when  the 
young  man  or  young  woman  will  not  brook  objec- 
tive or  institutional  authority.  The  influence  of  the  i 
parent  has  its  basis  in  affection;  and  the  professor,  I 
if  he  would  exert  a  strong  influence,  must  convince 
the  student  that  he  is  serving  the  student's  interests. 
The  instructor  is,  therefore,  an  older  brother  in  the 
student's  family.  Here  again  his  advantage  is  only 
that  which  comes  from  age  and  experience.  As 
in  any  given  family  there  are  those  who  stand  more 
closely  associated — brothers,  for  instance,  in  some 
cases  stand  in  closer,  in  others  a  less  close,  relation- 
ship— so  the  ideal  community  is  a  fraternity  in  which 
older  and  younger  come  together  and  influence  each 
other  in  different  degree. 


332      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

For  my  own  part,  I  can  conceive  that  the  influ- 
ence of  the  younger  members  in  this  fraternity  is  as 
great  in  many  instances  upon  the  older  as  is  that 
of  the  older  upon  the  young.  This  influence  will 
be  very  strong,  and  will  be  entirely  different  from 
any  arbitrary  exercise  of  authority.  For  the  college 
community  is  a  real  democracy.  All  men  even  in  a 
democracy,  are  not  equal  although  all  deserve  equal 
privileges.  In  the  college  community  those  have 
larger  influence  who,  by  reason  of  age  and  wisdom 
and  training,  have  larger  opportunity  to  aid  those, 
who  as  yet  have  not  attained  to  the  same  high  level. 

If  the  foregoing  conceptions  are  in  any  measure 
correct,  it  follows  that  the  closeness  of  the  relation- 
ship which  we  are  considering  will  depend  upon  the 
extent  to  which  in  any  given  case  the  pupil  and  the 
instructor  have  common  interests ;  and  those  who  have 
common  interests,  whether  of  an  objective  or  of  a  sub- 
jective character,  will  alone  derive  strong  advantage 
from  this  relationship.  It  is  just  here  that  the  prin- 
ciple of  election  plays  its  part.  The  opportunity  to 
elect  certain  subjects  for  study  is  one  which  permits 
the  pupil  to  assume  the  relation  of  fellowship  with 
an  instructor  whose  highest  interests  connect  them- 
selves with  those  subjects.  A  pupil  cannot  be  a 
fellow-student  with  a  professor,  if  pupil  and  professor 
do  not  have  a  fellow-feeling  toward  the  subject 
studied.  On  the  other  hand,  fellowship  and  friend- 
ship can  hardly  be  avoided  in  the  case  of  pupil  and 
instructor  whose  hearts  are  drawn  in  the  same  direc- 


COLLEGE  OFFICER  AND  STUDENT         sss 

tion,  whose  minds  are  led  to  deal  continuously  with 
the  same  thought,  and  whose  Hves  are  thus  brought 
intimately  together.  Fellow-studentship  between  in- 
structor and  pupil  is  therefore  dependent  upon  the 
opportunity  to  elect;  and  if  it  has  existed  in  earlier 
times  without  this  opportunity,  it  has  been,  in  many 
cases,  an  accident. 

The  principle  of  election,  then,  has  made  student- 
fellowship  between  officer  and  pupil  possible;  nay 
more,  it  has  made  any  other  relationship  impossible. 
But  this,  it  may  be  said,  does  not  apply  to  those  sub- 
jects in  the  first  year  of  college  work  which  all  students 
take  in  common;  for  example,  Latin,  English, 
mathematics.  Here  an  important  difference  exists 
between  the  larger  and  the  smaller  college.  In  the 
latter  the  old  regime  still  continues.  The  freshmen 
and  the  sophomore  do  not  think  of  student- fellowship 
with  instructors.  It  is  only  when  one  has  come  to  be 
a  junior  or  a  senior  that  he  may,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  be  said  to  enter  into  any  kind  of 
relationship  with  instructors;  and  this  is  because  in 
most  instances  in  the  smaller  institution  all  students 
must  go  to  one  man  for  work  in  Latin,  to  another 
for  work  in  English,  and  to  another  for  work  in 
mathematics.  Even  though  there  be  two  or  three, 
the  student  has  no  choice;  because,  there  being  but 
a  single  class  of  a  certain  stage  of  advancement, 
some  one  instructor  of  the  department  takes  the 
more  advanced  students,  another  those  less  advanced ; 
and  this  arrangement  leaves  the  student  himself  no 


334      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

choice.  In  the  larger  institutions  it  is  possible — 
although  it  must  be  admitted  the  possibility  is  not 
often  realized — to  apply  the  principle  of  election  to 
the  instructor  rather  than  to  the  subject  of  instruc- 
tion. And  here  a  new  principle  comes  into  opera- 
tion. The  pupil  may  select  one  of  two  or  three,  or 
even  more,  instructors  who  are  offering  the  same 
course  of  instruction  at  the  same  time. 

There  is,  indeed,  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  the 
distribution  of  students  in  sections  made  up  of  those 
of  equal  intellectual  strength,  Section  A  including 
those  who  rank  highest,  the  other  sections  also  being 
organized  on  the  basis  of  scholarship.  There  are 
advantages  in  this  system;  but  there  are  advantages 
also  in  the  system  which  will  allow  each  student  to 
select  that  one  of  the  two  or  more  instructors  offer- 
ing the  same  subject  at  the  same  time  who  shall 
seem  to  be  a  man  between  whom  and  the  pupil  a 
closer  personal  relationship  may  exist.  One  instruc- 
tor may  prove  to  be  sympathetic  and  helpful  to  pupils 
of  a  certain  temperament  and  attitude  of  mind. 
This  same  instructor  may  utterly  fail  to  be  of  assist- 
ance to  another  group  of  students  equally  strong; 
while  a  second  instructor  may  succeed  with  the 
second  group  and  fail  with  the  first.  Few  men 
occupy  the  professorial  chair  in  our  colleges  who  can 
touch  closely  even  a  majority  of  the  students  in 
their  classes.  This  is  in  many  cases,  as  has  been 
said,  a  matter  of  natural  temperament.  The  nerv- 
ous and  vigorous  instructor  will  accomplish  most 


COLLEGE  OFFICER  AND  STUDENT         335 

for  students  of  one  temperament,  while  students  of 
another  temperament  will  receive  injury  from  his 
instruction.  The  sober,  quiet,  and  unobtrusive 
personality  of  another  instructor  will,  on  the  other 
hand,  find  response  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  stu- 
dents whom  the  first  instructor  could  not  touch. 

From  this  point  of  view  care  should  be  taken  that 
the  instructors  in  a  given  department  of  study  should 
be  men  or  women  of  entirely  different  types,  in 
order  that,  being  thus  different,  they  may  bring 
themselves  into  relationship  with  different  types  of 
pupils.  In  the  liberty  accorded  the  pupil  to  select 
the  departments  in  which  he  will  study,  and  in  the 
liberty  which  he  may  enjoy  to  make  choice  between 
different  instructors  offering  the  same  grade  of  work 
at  the  same  time,  there  will  be  found  the  basis,  and 
the  only  basis,  for  fellow-studentship  and  for  frater- 
nal comradeship;  and  these  together  constitute  the 
ideal  relationship  that  should  exist  between  the 
instructor  and  his  pupil. 

I  regret  that  the  limit  of  time  has  not  permitted 
me  to  enlarge  upon  the  thought  I  have  in  mind. 
But  now,  in  bearing  greetings  from  the  university 
which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent  to  our  col- 
league who  today  assumes  the  responsibiHties  of 
this  high  office,  it  will  not  be  inappropriate  to  make 
brief  appHcation  of  these  propositions  to  him  and 
to  his  office. 

If  the  college  instructor  be  a  student,  if  he  is  a 
fellow-student,  one  of  the  members  of  a  community 


336      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  students,  the  president  of  the  college  must  in  a 
peculiar  sense  be  such  a  student.  There  is  no  place 
in  the  college  community  for  a  man,  whether  he  be 
pupil  or  instructor  or  president,  who  is  not  a  student, 
who  himself  is  not  engaged  in  the  search  for  truth, 
or  for  the  best  methods  of  propagating  truth  already 
known.  I  do  not  mean  that  he  must  be  a  formal 
teacher;  for  this  there  may  not  be  good  opportunity. 
But  the  college  community  cannot  have  as  its  most 
honored  member  one  who  is  not  a  student  in  one  or 
another  of  the  great  departments  of  hfe — one  who 
has  not  the  student  mind,  the  student  attitude  of 
mind,  the  student  sympathy,  or  the  student  ambition. 
If  the  college  community  is  a  family  of  brothers, 
in  which  the  instructor  is  an  older  member  guiding 
as  best  he  can  those  who  have  more  recently  entered 
the  family,  it  follows  that  the  president  is  the  elder 
brother,  the  oldest  of  the  family,  that  one  on  whom 
special  responsibihties  rest — responsibihties  which 
shall  be  discharged  only  as  they  conserve  the  inter- 
ests of  the  family,  as  they  include  the  work  and  the 
growth  of  even  the  youngest  member  of  the  family. 
The  relationship  between  him  and  the  instructor 
is  that  of  brothers  closely  related  in  age.  His  rela- 
tionship to  the  pupils  is  that  of  a  brother  somewhat 
separated,  perhaps,  in  years,  but,  for  that  very 
reason,  in  whose  heart  there  will  be  found  greater 
tenderness  and  care  for  those  who  are  the  new- 
comers in  the  family.  The  president  will  be  the 
most  honored  student  of  the  student  community. 


COLLEGE  OFFICER  AND  STUDENT        337 

He  is  the  oldest  brother  of  the  family,  and  as  such 
his  interests  will  be  broader  than  those  of  any  other 
student.  Personally  he  may  have  made  choice  of 
some  special  subject,  but  officially  he  will  feel  the 
same  interest  in  every  department,  and  will  labor 
with  his  fellow-9tudents  who  represent  those  depart- 
ments, for  their  upbuilding.  Breadth  of  interest 
will  be  his  strongest  characteristic.  As  a  member 
and  a  brother  in  the  family,  he  will  exercise  the 
largest  sympathy  with  the  other  brothers  of  the 
family,  old  and  young.  His  personal  relationship 
will  be  close;  with  each  brother  of  the  family  who 
has  occasion  to  rejoice  he  will  rejoice;  with  each 
member  of  the  family  who  has  occasion  to  weep  he 
will  weep.  As  a  true  brother  he  will  point  out  to 
each  member  of  the  family,  young  and  old,  what  in 
his  opinion  is  wrong;  and  he  will  make  effort  to 
suggest  how  improvement  may  be  secured.  He 
will  exercise,  if  need  be,  that  candor  and  that 
straightforward  bluntness  which  a  brother  may 
exercise  toward  a  brother.  His  attitude  will  not  be 
that  of  a  superior  person  endowed  for  the  time 
being  with  special  power.  The  true  college  president 
is  not  a  "boss;"  he  is  a  fellow-student  and  a  brother. 


XXII 

THE  LENGTH  OF  THE  COLLEGE 
COURSE^ 

In  view  of  the  time  allotted,  I  shall  limit  my 
statement  to  the  presentation  of  some  considerations 
which,  to  my  mind,  are  distinctly  opposed  to  the 
proposition  to  make  three  instead  of  four  years  the 
normal  period  of  residence  for  the  college  course. 

Some  students  are,  unquestionably,  able  to  com- 
plete the  course  in  three  years.  About  the  same 
number  should  perhaps,  to  do  the  work  equally 
well,  take  five  years.  The  question  before  us,  how- 
ever, is  not  one  that  relates  to  a  small  proportion 
of  the  students  who  enter  college — the  very  bright- 
est or  the  very  dullest.  It  is  a  question  which  has 
to  do  with  the  normal  college  course — that  is,  the 
course  of  study  intended  for  the  average  students 


It  is  easy  to  point  out  the  origin  of  the  difficulty 
which  confronts  us  and  has  given  rise  to  the  propo- 
, »  sition  itself.  It  is  a  survival  of  the  old  idea  which 
^^  made  the  college  curriculum  something  rigid,  some- 
thing into  conformity  with  which  every  student 
must  be  brought,  rather  than  something  which 
should  be  made  to  conform  to  each  individual  stu- 
dent.    It  is  not  inconsistent  with  this  suggestion 

^  Read  before  the  National  Educational  Association  (Depart- 
ment of  Higher  Education)  at  Boston,  July  7,  1903. 

338 


LENGTH  OF  THE  COLLEGE  COURSE 


339 


\cy 


that  the  first  discussion  of  the  question  took  place 
in  an  atmosphere  friendly  to  the  elective  policy  as 
distinguished  from  the  poHcy  of  a  fixed  curriculum. 
Adaptation  to  the  needs  of  the  individual  along 
certain  lines  did  not  in  this  case,  however,  carry 
with  it  flexibihty  and  adaptation  in  other  hnes.  It 
is  not  an  adaptation  of  the  college  course  to  the  A  /^  'K; 
needs  of  individual  men  to  propose  that  the  course 
shall  be  a  three-year  one.  An  adaptation  would 
permit  four  years  for  those  who  need  four  years, 
five  for  those  who  need  five  years,  and  three  for  / 
those  who  are  able  to  do  the  work  in  three  years. 

The  proposition  for  a  three-year  course  is  based  \ 
upon  the  supposition  that  the  entire  work  of  the 
college  course  is  really  university  work.  This  is  a 
mistaken  supposition.  The  work  of  the  freshman 
and  sophomore  years  is  ordinarily  of  the  same  scope 
and  character  as  that  of  the  preceding  years  in  the 
academy  or  high  school.  To  cut  off  a  full  year 
means  either  the  crowding  of  this  higher  preparatory 
or  college  work  of  the  freshman  and  sophomore 
years,  or  the  shortening  of  the  real  university  work 
done  in  the  junior  and  senior  years  of  the  college 
course.  The  adoption  of  either  alternative  will 
occasion  a  serious  loss  to  the  student.  The  aver- 
age man  is  not  prepared  to  take  up  university  work 
until  he  has  reached  the  end  of  the  sophomore  year. 
No  greater  mistake  is  being  made  in  the  field  of 
higher  education  than  the  confusion  which  is  com- 
ing to  exist  between  college  and  university  methods 


\ 


340      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of   work.     The   adoption   of   a   three-year   college 
term  will  only  add  to  a  confusion  already  great. 

Furthermore,  the  proposition  rests  upon  an  incor- 
rect idea  as  to  the  age  at  which  students  should 
begin  work.  The  average  age  of  students  entering 
college  today  is  about  the  same  as  it  was  twenty- 
five  or  fifty  years  ago.  The  average  age  of  students 
leaving  college  today  is  about  the  same  as  it  was 
twenty-five  or  fifty  years  ago.  The  serious  difficulty 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  demands  of  professional  edu- 
cation are  greater  today  than  they  were  twenty-five 
or  fifty  years  ago,  and  that,  instead  of  courses  of 
professional  study  which  extend  over  two  years,  we 
are  confronted  with  courses  of  professional  study 
which  extend  over  three  or  four  years.  It  is  a  point 
of  special  interest,  however,  that,  although  the 
requirements  for  entrance  to  college  are  so  much 
greater  than  they  were  formerly,  the  student  masters 
these  requirements  and  enters  virtually  at  the  same 
age.  In  other  words,  better  educational  facilities 
have  made  it  possible  to  graduate  the  young  man  at 
the  same  age,  but  with  nearly  two  years  of  additional 
equipment.  With  all  this  gain,  however,  it  is  ap- 
parent to  any  student  of  the  situation  that  even  yet 
there  is  great  waste,  and  that  a  better  arrangement  of 
the  curriculum  in  the  earlier  stages  of  educational 
work  will  make  it  possible  for  one  or  two  additional 
years  to  be  gained.  From  the  multiplication  of  high 
schools  and  their  greater  efficiency,  and  from  the 
consequent  improvement  in  the  grammar  schools, 


LENGTH  OF  THE  COLLEGE  COURSE 

much  may  be  expected.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  a  practical  limit  has  been  reached  so  far  as\ 
concerns  the  requirements  for  admission  to  college. 
With  this  limit  fixed,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  expect 
that  on  the  basis  of  the  present  requirements  a  boy- 
may  reach  college  one  or  two  years  earher  within 
the  next  decade.  This  will  counterbalance  the 
increase  of  time  required  in  the  professional  schools 
referred  to  above.  It  is  therefore  unnecessary  to 
shorten  the  college  course  merely  to  provide  for  an 
extension  of  the  professional  course. 

Then,  there  is  another  wrong  idea  upon  which 
the  proposition  is  based — a  wrong  idea  of  the  high" 
school.  This  institution  is  no  longer  a  school  pre- 
paratory for  college.  In  its  most  fully  developed 
form  it  covers  at  least  one-half  the  ground  of  the 
college  of  fifty  years  ago.  It  is  a  real  college;  at 
all  events,  it  provides  the  earlier  part  of  a  college 
course.  Its  work  may  not  be  separated  from  that 
of  the  freshman  and  sophomore  years  either  in 
method  or  scope.  Indeed,  many  high  schools  are 
actually  moving  forward  to  include  in  their  curricu- 
lum the  work  of  the  freshman  and  sophomore  years. 
And  in  these  schools  the  entire  college  course,  as  it 
was  known  fifty  years  ago,  besides  the  additional 
work  in  science  which  at  that  time  was  unknown, 
is  included.  This  development  of  the  high  school 
has  a  significant  bearing  upon  the  question  before 
us.  How  is  this  new  college,  the  product  of  our 
own   generation,  to   be   brought   into   relationship 


342      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

with  the  old  college  which  has  come  down  to  us 
from  our  ancestors  ?  The  correct  appreciation  of 
the  modern  high  school  and  its  proper  adjustment 
to  the  situation  as  a  whole  makes  strongly  against 
the  proposed  three-year  course. 

Another  objection  to  the  three-year  pohcy  is  that 
its  adoption  by  the  larger  institutions  would  be 
followed  immediately  by  an  increase  of  require- 
ments for  admission  to  the  first  year  of  college  work. 
How  this  increase  would  work  may  be  seen  in  the 
history  of  the  college  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity, in  which  the  requirements  for  admission  to  the 
first  of  the  three  years  practically  include  the  work 
of  the  ordinary  freshman  year.  While  high  schools 
as  such  show  a  tendency  to  increase  the  scope  of 
their  work,  and  while  this  tendency  is  certainly  to 
be  encouraged,  such  increase  should  be  accepted  as  a 
substitute  for  the  work  of  the  college,  but  not  as  an 
additional  requirement  for  admission  to  the  college. 
Our  present  difficulties  have  their  origin  partly  in 
the  fact  that  from  time  to  time  we  have  increased 
the  requirements  for  admission  to  college,  until,  as 
has  already  been  pointed  out,  a  fairly  good  college 
course  of  instruction  is  now  obtained  before  the  so- 
called  college  work  begins.  This  is  an  evil  which 
should  be  corrected,  and  its  correction  lies  in  the 
direction  of  reducing  the  requirements  for  admission 
rather  than  in  increasing  them.  The  evil  would 
be  intensified  by  the  adoption  of  the  three-year 
policy. 


UNIVERSi 
LENGTH  OF  THE  COLLEGE  COURSE 


f  UN! 


Again,  the  proposition  is  based  upon  the  sup- 
position that  the  essential  thing  is  the  time  require- 
ment. Starting  with  the  tradition  that  the  college 
course  must  be  four  years  for  all  men  of  whatever 
grade,  it  proceeds  upon  the  assumption  that,  for 
various  reasons,  this  period,  now  the  same  for  all 
students,  must  continue  to  be  the  same  for  all  stu- 
dents; namely,  the  three-year  period.  No  idea  has 
exerted  a  more  injurious  influence  in  the  history  of 
the  college  work  than  that  the  period  of  four  years, 
however  employed,  if  spent  in  college  residence, 
guaranteed  a  college  education.  It  is  questionable 
whether  the  time  limit  in  the  undergraduate  course 
is  any  more  important  a  factor  than  the  time  limit 
in  the  work  for  the  doctor's  degree.  This  fondness 
for  a  time  limit,  which  is  the  fundamental  basis  of 
the  three-year  proposition,  is  a  survival  of  the  old 
class  system  which  disappeared  long  ago  in  the 
larger  institutions,  and  is  beginning  to  show  deca- 
dence even  in  the  smaller  institutions. 

The  proposition  should  likewise  be  opposed 
because  of  its  deleterious  influence  upon  the  smaller 
colleges.  The  American  college  is  the  glory  of 
American  spiritual  life,  and  its  existence  must  not 
be  endangered.  Granting  that  the  larger  institu- 
tions could  adopt  without  injury  the  three-year  plan, 
it  would  be  impossible  for  the  smaller  colleges  so 
to  do.  Two  things  would  follow:  the  decadence  of 
the  better  colleges  of  this  class,  and  the  adoption  of 
the  policy  by  colleges  only  slightly  above  the  grade 


344      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

of  high  schools.  And  when  it  came  to  be  seen  that 
the  college  system  is  adjusted  in  its  entirety  with  a 
view  to  its  relationship  to  the  professional  schools, 
and  that  it  is  only  a  second  college  course  following 
a  first  college  course  already  received  in  the  high 
school,  the  tendency  would  be  for  students  to  go 
directly  from  the  high  school  to  the  university — a 
tendency  to  be  discouraged  as  urgently  as  possible. 
Moreover,  the  colleges  of  lower  grade  would  at  once 
reduce  their  period  to  one  of  three  years,  even  though 
their  curriculum  were  greatly  inferior  to  that  of  the 
larger  institutions.  In  other  words,  the  step  pro- 
posed, in  spite  of  protestations  to  the  contrary, 
means,  in  the  end,  a  lowering  of  requirements 
throughout  the  field  of  higher  education. 

For  a  boy  who  enters  college  at  the  right  age, 
sixteen  or  seventeen,  less  than  four  years  is  too 
short  a  time.  The  adoption  of  the  three-year 
course  will,  however,  compel  every  boy  to  limit 
his  college  course  to  three  years.  This  is  a  serious 
difficulty.  On  the  present  basis  he  may  take  one, 
two,  three,  or  four  years,  according  to  circum- 
stances. On  the  new  plan  he  would  be  limited  to 
three  years,  so  far  as  college  work  is  concerned. 
With  the  immense  increase  in  attendance  at  college 
which  has  come  within  the  last  decade  on  the 
four-year  basis,  why  should  we  dehberately  plan 
to  reduce  the  time  to  three  years?  Surely  in  the 
years  to  come  a  preparation  will  be  needed  as  full 
and  long  as  was  needed  in  the  years  that  are  past. 


LENGTH  OF  THE  COLLEGE  COURSE       345 

The  one  place  in  which  it  is  unnecessary  and  unde- 
sirable to  cut  down  the  time  of  those  who  are  willing 
and  able  to  take  four  years  is  in  the  college  period. 
Let  the  time  be  shortened  in  the  earlier  years, 
but  at  this  stage  of  preparation,  with  the  great 
number  of  subjects  which  may  profitably  be  consid- 
ered, let  us  have  all  the  time  possible. 

The  suggestion  of  the  three-year  course,  further- 
more, ignores  the  culture  value  of  the  subjects  in 
the  first  year  of  professional  work.  For  my  own 
part,  from  the  point  of  view  of  citizenship  and  general 
culture,  I  can  conceive  no  work  more  valuable  to  a 
young  man  or  woman  than  the  first  year  in  the 
curriculum  of  the  law,  the  medical,  or  the  divinity 
school,  or  in  the  school  of  education.  In  any  one 
of  these  groups  the  student  is  brought  into  contact 
with  living  questions.  The  fact  that  the  method  in 
professional  schools  is  different  from  that  in  the 
college  is,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  a  distinct  advan- 
tage, and  in  no  case  an  injury,  since  it  serves  as  a 
corrective  of  a  tendency  toward  dilettantism  unques- 
tionably encouraged  by  the  more  lax  methods  of 
the  later  years  of  college  work.  If  any  one  question 
has  been  settled  in  the  •  educational  discussion  of 
the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  it  is  that  a  Hne  is  no 
longer  to  be  drawn  between  this  class  of  subjects 
and  that,  on  the  ground  that  one  group,  and  not 
the  other,  may  be  regarded  as  culture-producing. 
The  opportunity  to  elect  subjects  of  this  character 
in  the  last  year  of  the  college  course  does  not  injure 


346      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

the  integrity  of  the  college.  It  must,  however,  be 
admitted  that  the  adoption  of  this  policy  by  larger 
institutions  introduces  a  difficulty  for  the  smaller 
institutions,  but  this  difficulty  is  not  insuperable, 
and  several  ways  have  already  been  suggested  for 
meeting  it. 

Then,  too,  as  already  hinted,  the  proposition, 
subordinates  the  college  almost  wholly  to  the  pro- 
fessional school.  It  is  largely  because  of  the  increased 
demands  of  the  professional  schools  that  it  seems 
necessary  to  shorten  the  college  course.  This  does 
not  seem  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  fact  that  a  com- 
paratively small  number  of  students  really  expect 
to  enter  professional  schools.  Why  should  students 
who  do  not  have  the  professional  school  in  mind 
be  required  to  shorten  the  term  of  college  residence  ? 
If  it  is  answered  that  the  student  who  enters  any 
line  of  business  activity  needs  the  year  thus  saved 
in  order  that  he  may  begin  his  work  earHer,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  facts  do  not  bear  out  this  proposition ; 
and,  in  any  case,  a  year  of  business  is  not  to  be 
treated  as  a  year  of  college  work  in  the  sense  that  it 
is  equivalent  to  the  first  year's  course  of  study  in  a 
professional  school.  It  is  therefore  as  inexpedient 
to  adjust  the  whole  college  policy  to  the  supposed 
needs  of  a  minority  who  are  planning  to  enter  the 
professional  school,  as  it  is  to  adjust  the  whole 
poHcy  of  a  high  school  to  the  needs  of  a  minority 
who  enter  college. 

And,  finally,  it  is  to  be  urged  in  opposition  to  the 


LENGTH  OF  THE  COLLEGE  COURSE       347 

proposed  movement  that  it  is  in  general  contrary  to 
the  drift  of  educational  movements,  and  that  the 
very  thing  which  it  proposes  can  easily  be  secured 
by  other  means.  Among  other  educational  tenden- 
cies today  may  be  cited  (a)  that  of  the  high  school 
to  enlarge  its  scope  and  add  to  its  curriculum  one 
or  two  years  of  additional  work;  (6)  that  of  strength- 
ening the  faculties  and  curriculum  of  the  average 
smaller  college;  (c)  that  of  avoiding  the  waste  in 
the  earHer  years,  and  the  consequent  possibihty  of 
college  entrance  at  an  earHer  age;  and  (d)  that  of 
distinct  separation  between  college  and  university 
methods.  To  each  and  all  of  these  the  proposition 
stands  opposed. 

Following  the  example  of  one  of  the  speakers 
this  morning,  I  would  suggest  that  the  plan  which 
has  been  in  operation  at  the  University  of  Chicago 
for  nearly  ten  years  has  seemed  to  many  of  us  to 
meet  in  large  measure  the  demands  called  for  this 
morning.  This  plan  provides  a  course  of  four 
years  and  a  course  of  two  years.  It  permits  students 
of  exceptional  ability  to  do  the  work  in  three  years. 
It  makes  it  possible  for  those  who  so  desire  to 
prolong  the  work  five  years.  It  is  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  individuals  of  different  classes.  With  the 
completion  of  the  two-year  course  a  certificate  is 
given,  granting  the  title  of  "associate"  in  the  univer-  A  ^ 
sity.  This,  for  the  present,  is  sufficient  in  the  way 
of  a  degree.  To  students  who  maintain  a  standing 
of  the  highest  grade  certain  concessions  are  made. 


348      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

The  details  of  the  plan  have  been  worked  out 
as  experience  has  indicated  the  need.  The  provi- 
sion of  a  two-year  course  meets  the  need  of  many 
who  cannot  take  a  longer  term  of  residence,  and 
likewise  of  many  who  ought  not  to  take  a  longer 
course.  The  provision  of  a  normal  four-year  course 
meets  the  need  of  the  average  man  or  woman. 
This  plan  does  not  imply  that  this  average  man  or 
woman  who  spends  four  years  in  residence  is  par- 
ticularly stupid,  or  that  a  year  has  been  wasted. 

It  is  believed,  from  an  experience  of  ten  or  more 
years,  that  this  plan  contains  the  solution  of  at  least 
many  of  the  points  now  under  discussion. 


XXIII 

THE  SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL 
COLLEGE^ 

In  my  opinion  the  two  most  serious  problems  of 
education  requiring  solution  within  the  next  quarter 
of  a  century  are,  first,  the  problem  of  rural  schools, 
which  falls  within  the  domain  of  lower  education; 
and,  secondly,  the  problem  of  the  small  college,  which 
lies  within  the  domain  of  higher  education. 

This  second  problem,  which  forms  the  subject  of 
our  consideration  here,  is  at  the  same  time  serious  and 
delicate;  serious,  because  the  greatest  interests,  both 
material  and  spiritual,  are  at  stake;  delicate,  because 
there  are  involved  special  and  peculiar  questions  of 
privilege  and  right.  The  study  of  the  problem  is  a 
difficult  one,  because  it  deals  with  data  insufficiently 
gathered  and  not  yet  properly  tabulated;  because, 
also,  the  territory  covered  is  so  vast  and  includes  sec- 
tions so  differently  situated. 

I  may  be  pardoned  for  mentioning  my  personal 
experience :  My  student  life  was  divided,  my  under- 
graduate work  being  done  in  a  small  college,  my 
graduate  work  in  a  large  college  or  university.  My 
life  as  a  teacher  has  been  almost  evenly  divided, 
twelve  years  having  been  spent  in  institutions  termed 

I  An  address  given  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  July  lo,  1900,  before 
the  National  Educational  Association. 

349 


350      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

** small,"  thirteen  in  institutions  which  may  be  called 
*' larger."     I  approach  the  subject,  therefore,  with 
no  prejudice  born  of  lack  of  experience  in  one  or  the 
other  kind  of  educational  institution. 
We  shall  consider — 

I.  Some  factors  which  would  seem  to  guarantee 
the  life  and  the  growth  of  the  smaller  institutions. 

II.  Some  factors  which  will  be  found  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  such  development. 

III.  Some  changes  affecting  the  small  colleges 
which  are  to  be  expected,  and  which  are  to  be 
desired. 

I 

Let  us  notice,  first  of  all,  the  widely  prevailing  be- 
lief that  the  smaller  institution  has  certain  decided  ad- 
vantages over  the  larger  in  the  character  of  the  results 
produced.  This  belief  is  entertained  so  strongly  and 
in  so  many  quarters  that,  whether  true  or  false,  it 
furnishes  a  substantial  element  of  strength  to  the 
cause  of  the  smaller  college.  It  cannot  be  said  that, 
if  this  belief  is  false,  its  falsity  will  soon  become  appar- 
ent; for,  in  weighing  evidence  on  both  sides  of  so 
delicate  a  question,  the  number  of  points  to  be  con- 
sidered is  very  great,  and  the  individual  equation,  in 
each  case,  is  altogether  different.  Who  can  say 
dogmatically  that  it  would  have  been  better  or  worse 
for  this  or  that  boy  had  he  gone  to  the  larger  institu- 
tion instead  of  to  the  smaller;  or  to  the  smaller 
instead  of  to  the  larger  ? 

The  student  of  the  small  college,  it  is  urged,  has 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     351 

an  advantage  in  that  he  comes  into  closer  contact 
with  the  officers  of  the  faculty.  It  is  certainly  true, 
other  things  being  equal,  that  the  student  who  knows 
his  instructor  intimately  and  is  himself  intimately 
known  by  him,  has  a  much  greater  chance  of  achiev- 
ing satisfactory  results  than  the  student  who  has  Httle 
or  no  personal  contact  with  his  instructor.  But 
here  two  things  should  be  noted.  First,  is  it  a  fact 
that  in  the  larger  institutions  the  student  comes  into 
less  vital  touch  with  his  teachers  ?  A  study  of  this 
question,  extending  over  several  years,  has  con- 
vinced me  that  the  student  in  the  larger  institutions 
not  only  comes  into  relationship  with  a  greater  num- 
ber of  instructors,  but  also  touches  in  the  closest 
possible  way  as  many  of  this  number,  as  he  would 
have  touched  in  the  smaller  college.  And,  second, 
is  it  a  question  merely  of  close  contact,  or  of  receiving 
that  deep  incitement  which  stirs  the  soul  to  its  very 
depths  ?  I  have  known  instructors  in  both  large  and 
small  institutions,  close  touch  with  whom  would 
deaden  rather  than  quicken  any  higher  life ;  and  it  is 
only  fair  to  say  that  the  number  of  such  is  as  great 
proportionately  in  the  small  as  in  the  larger  institu- 
tion. 

Again,  the  student  of  the  small  college,  it  is  urged, 
has  great  advantages,  especially  in  the  earlier  college 
years,  because  in  most  cases  he  does  his  work  under 
men  who  have  the  rank  of  professor,  while  in  the 
larger  institutions  he  is  turned  over  to  young  men 
who  are  only  tutors  or  instructors.    And  yet  it 


352      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

should  be  remembered  that  these  same  tutors 
and  instructors,  if  they  were  in  the  smaller  insti- 
tutions, would  enjoy  the  rank  of  professor.  I  have 
in  mind  a  university  in  which  every  man  who  is 
ranked  as  an  assistant  professor,  instructor,  or  tutor 
has  been  offered  a  full  professorship  in  a  small 
college,  and  several  of  them  the  presidency  of  such 
an  institution. 

Further,  the  student  of  the  small  college,  it  is 
urged,  has  greater  opportunity  to  develop  respon- 
sibility; the  number  of  students  being  small,  each  one 
stands  out  more  definitely  and  receives  greater 
recognition,  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  actually 
counts  for  more  in  the  various  activities  of  the  college 
life.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  the 
incentives  to  excel  and  the  number  of  activities 
which  present  themselves  to  the  student  ambition 
increase  even  more  rapidly  than  the  proportionate 
increase  in  numbers;  and  that  these  opportunities 
are  higher  in  character  and  more  varied  in  propor- 
tion to  the  horizon  of  those  who  find  themselves  in 
this  or  that  environment. 

But  I  have  allowed  myself  to  wander  somewhat. 
The  point  I  wish  to  present  is  this :  The  behef  in 
the  superior  advantages  of  the  small  college  has  taken 
so  strong  a  hold  upon  the  minds  of  men  in  general 
that,  although  it  rests  upon  grounds  which  are  in 
large  measure  fancied  or  sentimental,  it  will  serve 
as  a  strong  factor  in  assisting  to  maintain  and  to 
advance  the  interests  of  the  smaller  as  against  those 
of  the  larger  institutions. 


/^TUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     353 

A  second  factor  which  has  helped  the  smaller    j 
institutions  in  the  past,  and  one  which  will  continue    I 
to  render  strong  assistance,  is  that  feeling,  sometimes    I 
of  awe  and  almost  fear,  at  other  times  of  jealousy  and 
hostiHty,  which  is  invariably  aroused  in  the  minds  of    j 
many  toward  an  institution  that  has  grown  large  and     \ 
powerful.    The  small  college  is  loved  and  cherished,     i 
in  most  cases,  just  because  it  is  small  and  weak;    f 
while  the  larger  institution  is  hated  and  opposed,  J 
because  it  is  powerful.    This  has  been  the  history 
of  every  institution  that  has  become  great.     It  is  the 
history  of  nearly  every  one  of  the  state  universities 
in  the  western  states.    It  is  the  feeling  with  which 
the  smaller  towns  or  cities  in  a  state  regard  the  one  y 
great  city  of  a  particular  region^^.^^^ 

Legitimate  use  may  be  made  of  this  characteristic 
of  human  nature.  I  do  not,  observe,  call  it  a  weak- 
ness. It  is  a  mark  of  strength  when  a  man,  or  a 
community,  or  a  nation  turns  in  sympathy  and  com- 
passion toward  that  which  is  small  and  weak,  and 
finds  this  very  weakness  in  itself  so  strong  as  to 
serve  as  a  ground  of  appeal  for  help.  The  small 
college  will  always  have  friends  because  of  its  weak- 
ness. And  the  corollary  of  this  is  equally  true:  the 
larger  institution  will  have  enemies  because  of  its 
strength.  Moreover,  this  is  as  it  should  be;  that 
which  is  strong  will  be  more  likely  to  become  stronger 
as  the  result  of  opposition  than  as  the  result  of  sym- 
pathy and  help.  The  latter,  too,  is  often  weakening, 
instead  of  strengthening.    This  feehng,  therefore,  of 


354      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

hostility  toward  the  larger  institutions — a  feeling 
entirely  natural  and  altogether  general — is  in  itself 
a  guaranty  of  a  continued  interest  in  the  small  as 
opposed  to  the  large  institutions. 

Closely  associated  with  this  is  another  factor, 
which,  through  all  time,  will  stand  arrayed  on  the 
side  of  the  small  college — a  strong  and  noble  phalanx 
of  supporters.  I  mean  the  faculty  and  the  alumni 
of  the  institution. 

No  greater  acts  of  heroism  or  self-sacrifice  have 
been  performed  on  battlefield,  or  in  the  face  of  dan- 
ger, than  those  which  are  written  down  in  the  book 
of  the  recording  angel  to  the  credit  of  the  teachers 
whose  very  blood  has  gone  into  the  foundations  of 
some  of  our  weak  and  strugghng  colleges.  Blood 
thus  freely  and  nobly  given  can  never  have  been 
given  in  vain.  It  will  cry  out  to  heaven  in  behalf 
of  the  cause  for  which  it  was  spent,  and  this  cry  will 
be  heard  and  answered,  and  new  friends  will  be 
raised  up.  The  love  of  an  alumnus  for  his  alma 
mater  is  something  sacred  and  very  tender.  Does 
the  true  son  think  less  of  his  natural  mother  because 
she  is,  perhaps,  poor  and  weak,  or  even  sick  and 
deformed  ?  The  true  college  man  is  and  will  be  all 
the  more  devoted  to  his  spiritual  mother,  if,  per- 
chance, in  the  varying  tides  of  human  vicissitude, 
she  has  become  low ;  or  if,  in  spite  of  long  and  weary 
years  of  struggle,  she  has  failed  to  grow  into  full  and 
perfect  vigor.  There  are  scores  of  colleges  which 
live  today,  and  in  God's  providence  will  continue 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE      355 

to  live,  because  of  the  devotion,  even  at  a  terrible 
cost,  of  a  few  teachers,  or  a  few  alumni.  Such  devo- 
tion money  cannot  purchase.  It  is  worth  more  than 
money.  It  is  a  gift  more  precious  than  anything 
material.  It  is,  moreover,  the  very  essence  of  the 
life  of  the  institution  for  which  it  is  cherished.  And, 
as  the  essence  of  that  Hfe,  it  is  the  guaranty  of  the  life 
of  the  institution. 

Another  factor  in  the  preservation  and  upbuilding 
of  the  small  college — a  factor  the  potency  of  which 
will  increase  with  passing  decades — is  the  desire 
of  men  who  have  been  successful  in  accumulating 
wealth  to  do  something  with  that  wealth  which  will 
be  constructive^  creative.  The  faculty  of  amassing 
wealth  is  a  constructive  faculty,  a  creative  faculty, 
and  the  man  who  has  this  faculty,  if  he  is  of  a  benevo- 
lent disposition,  is  likely  to  turn  it  to  a  work  which  is 
likewise  of  the  constructive  or  creative  type;  for 
example,  to  the  development  of  college  work. 

It  might  almost  be  said  to  be  a  law  of  philanthropy 
that  it  is  exercised  within  a  territory  co-extensive 
with  the  horizon  of  the  philanthropist.  The  great 
majority  of  men  who  have  achieved  a  moderate  suc- 
cess in  life  are  known  only  within  a  certain  district. 
Occasionally  a  man  is  strong  enough  and  large 
enough  to  have  his  name  and  fame  extend  beyond 
the  locality  in  which  his  work  is  done;  such  men 
are  the  exceptions.  And  just  so,  men  whose  hearts 
and  minds  are  large  enough  to  take  in  the  whole 
world,  whose  benefactions  are  bestowed  over  a  wide 


356      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

area,  are  exceptions.  Most  men  of  liberal  mind 
limit  their  benevolences  to  those  causes  with  which 
they  themselves  may  keep  in  close  touch.  In  every 
section  of  the  country,  and  in  almost  every  county  of 
every  state,  there  are  men  who  are  disposed  to  use 
their  means  for  the  improvement  of  the  particular 
locality  in  which  their  wealth  has  been  accumulated. 
It  is  impossible  to  interest  such  men  in  any  kind 
of  benevolent  work  at  a  distance.  If  rightly 
approached,  they  will  undertake  work  at  home. 
Although  interested  in  educational  work,  they  are 
nevertheless  not  interested  in  the  work  of  the  large 
institution,  even  when  it  is  close  by.  They  cannot 
be  persuaded  that  the  larger  institution,  with  the 
several  millions  of  dollars  which  it  has  already 
secured,  can  need  additional  endowment;  and,  in 
any  case,  they  cannot  be  persuaded  that  the  smaller 
gifts  which  they  might  make  would  be  appreciated 
in  the  midst  of  so  much  wealth.  Here  then  is  a 
condition  of  things  which  will  bring  about  benevo- 
lence to  the  smaller  institution  within  reach.  The 
number  of  such  men  today  is  very  large,  and  that 
number  is  constantly  increasing  with  the  grow- 
ing prosperity  of  the  country.  The  small  college 
furnishes  an  opportunity  for  these  men,  within  their 
own  circle,  to  do  a  work  for  the  cause  of  higher 
education — a  cause  which  has  a  peculiar  fascination 
for  many  minds,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  constructive  and 
creative  work.  In  this  condition  of  things  there  is  a 
guaranty  that  provision  will  be  made  in  the  future. 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE      357 

here  and  there  throughout  the  entire  country,  for 
the  development  of  the  smaller  institutions. 

Still  another  guaranty  for  the  future  of  the  insti- 
tution under  consideration  is  the  fact  that,  whatever 
may  be  said  of  the  relative  advantages  of  the  small 
and  the  large  institution  for  the  average  young  man 
or  woman,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  small  college 
is  particularly  adapted  to  the  needs  of  many  an 
individual.  And  yet  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  these 
individuals  are  below  the  average ;  for  many  of  them 
certainly  are  far  above  the  average.  I  have  in  mind 
young  men  and  women  of  certain  peculiar  tempera- 
ments, as  well  as  those  in  whose  case  the  transition 
from  a  certain  mode  of  life  to  the  more  free  and 
liberal  atmosphere  of  the  larger  institution,  the  uni- 
versity, would  prove  to  be  too  sudden.  Just  so  long 
as  there  are  localities  in  which,  for  one  reason  or  ,/ 
another,  the  privilege  of  thinking  for  oneself  upon 
every  subject  is  denied,  or  in  which  the  habit  has  not 
yet  been  cultivated,  there  will  be  needed  for  those  who 
are  destined,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  reach  out 
and  attain  higher  possibilities,  places  of  transition 
between  that  which  is  more  restricted  and  that  which 
is  more  free.  To  step  suddenly  from  one  atmos- 
phere to  another  would  seriously  interfere  with  proper 
growth.  The  smaller  college  furnishes  such  a  place 
of  transition,  and  prepares  minds  that  have  been 
under  restriction  for  the  broader  and  higher  privi- 
leges of  the  university.  This  narrowness  to  which  I 
have  alluded  may  be  the  outcome  of  an  imperfect 


358      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

religious  system,  or  of  a  lack  of  proper  facilities  in 
the  lower  spheres  of  educational  activity;  or,  as  in 
certain  districts  of  our  country,  the  result  of  geo- 
graphical separation  from  the  great  centers  of  influ- 
ence, or  isolation  from  the  great  routes  of  travel;  but, 
in  any  case,  the  small  college  is  specially  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  such  persons.  The  demand  for  this 
peculiar  work,  being  so  strong  and  so  universal,  con- 
stitutes in  itself  a  guaranty  for  the  future  existence 
of  the  college. 
/  Perhaps  it  is  at  this  point  that  I  may  mention  the 

economic  side  of  student  Hfe,  which  controls,  far 
more  generally  than  perhaps  we  might  suppose,  the 
possibilities  of  higher  education.  The  average  young 
man  or  woman  who  desires  a  college  education  finds 
more  or  less  difficulty  in  securing  the  means  with 
which  to  make  such  education  possible.  It  is  a 
question  of  so  many  hundred  dollars  a  year.  It  is 
evident  that  in  large  institutions  the  expense  is  more 
considerable  than  in  the  smaller.  It  is  true  that  all 
of  the  larger  universities  furnish  aid  to  many  stu- 
dents, and  that  in  general  any  deserving  student  is 
able  to  secure  help  sufficient  to  assist  him  in  com- 
pleting his  work;  but  many  men  are  unwilling  to 
accept  such  assistance.  Many  have  neither  the  cour- 
age nor  the  cleverness  to  secure  it;  and  if  all  who 
desire  an  education  were  to  make  application  to  the 
larger  institutions,  the  funds  at  the  command  of  those 
institutions  would  prove  sadly  inadequate.  It  is  only 
because  the  smaller  institutions,  scattered  through- 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     359 

out  the  country,  are  able  to  do  the  work  for  the  young 
man  or  woman  of  moderate  means,  that  the  larger 
institutions  can,  in  any  satisfactory  way,  meet  the 
demand  which  is  made  upon  them.  Only  a  few 
comparatively  can  gather  together  so  large  a  sum  as 
five  or  six  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  a  course  of 
college  study,  and  yet  such  a  sum,  in  most  of  our 
larger  institutions,  is  quite  small,  in  view  of  the 
many  and  varied  demands  made  upon  the  student. 
There  must  be  institutions  in  which  the  man  who 
can  command  only  two  or  three  hundred  dollars  a 
year  may  find  help  and  guidance  in  his  pursuit  of  \ 
higher  education.  The  larger  institutions,  located 
in  many  cases  where  rents  and  food  are  more  expen- 
sive, and  where  the  demands  of  society  compel  a 
style  of  living  which  would  not  be  considered 
necessary  elsewhere,  are  prohibitive  to  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  families  whose  annual  income  is  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  or  less;  and  if  an  estimate  were 
made,  the  great  majority  of  families  would  find  their 
classification  in  this  category.  As  long  as  there  are 
famihes  with  small  incomes,  and  as  long  as  in  these 
famihes  there  are  sons  and  daughters  who  desire  a 
higher  education,  there  must  be  colleges  in  which 
this  education  may  be  obtained  at  a  minimum  of 
expense.  The  future  of  the  small  college  is,  there- 
fore, absolutely  assured.  ^ 

In  this  same  connection  there  is  to  be  considered 
what  may  be  called  the  geographical  law  of  higher 
education.     In  accordance  with  this  law,  about  90 


s6o      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

per  cent,  of  those  who  attend  college  select  for  that 
purpose  an  institution  within  one  hundred  miles  of 
home ;  or,  to  put  the  matter  in  another  form,  the  con- 
stituency of  even  the  largest  institutions  comes  in 
great  measure  from  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the 
institution  itself.  This  fact  is  at  once  an  explanation 
of  the  large  number  of  colleges  scattered  throughout 
our  land,  and  the  ground  for  behef  that  this  large 
number  will,  in  one  form  or  another,  remain  for  the 
most  part  undiminished. 

It  is  to  be  noted  still  further  that  educational 
tradition  is  peculiarly  conservative.  The  tradition 
in  the  United  States,  estabhshed  two  and  one- 
half  centuries  ago,  and  continuing  almost  without 
change  until  within  the  last  quarter  of  this  century, 
has  been  in  favor  of  the  small  college.  It  is  only 
within  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  that  the  larger 
institution,  or  the  university,  has  been  known  on 
American  soil.  The  tradition  is  deeply  rooted. 
This  fact  points  unmistakably  to  the  policy  of  the 
future;  and  while  the  university  idea,  which  has  so 
recently  sprung  up  among  us,  has  before  it  large 
and  unlimited  possibiHties,  the  policy  of  estabHsh- 
ing  small  colleges  here  and  there  is  one  so  strongly 
fixed  that  no  great  modification  of  it  may  be  expected. 
The  additional  fact  that,  side  by  side  with  the  more 
recent  development  along  university  lines,  the  col- 
leges have  grown,  financially  as  well  as  numerically, 
is  evidence  in  favor  of  the  proposition  just  mentioned. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  larger  insti- 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     361 

tution,  however  influential  it  may  become,  will  sup- 
plant the  smaller.  The  two  may  go  forward  side 
by  side,  each  exerting  upon  the  other  a  helpful 
influence.  It  is  not  conceivable  that  the  policy  of  two 
centuries  and  a  half,  a  policy  which  has  been  found 
so  acceptable  on  every  side,  should  suddenly  suffer 
serious  modification.  In  any  case,  such  modifica- 
tions will  be  gradual,  and  will  permit  an  easy  adjust- 
ment under  the  new  conditions  which  may  arise. 
One  of  the  most  important  factors  to  be  considered 
in  any  study  of  the  small  college  is  the  religious  pur- 
pose and  control  with  which  a  great  majority  of 
these  colleges  stand  connected.  The  smaller  col- 
leges, for  the  most  part,  have  been  founded  with  a 
distinct  and  definite  religious  aim.  This  aim  has 
been,  in  some  cases,  to  protect  certain  peculiar 
tenets  of  religious  faith;  in  others,  to  provide  a 
rehgious  atmosphere  which  should  be  in  harmony 
with  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  its  patrons ;  in  still 
others,  to  secure  a  definite  and  tangible  guaranty  of 
specific  Christian  influence.  In  all  these  cases 
there  was  a  distinctly  religious  motive.  The  fact 
that  so  many  of  these  colleges  are  supported  by  par- 
ticular denominations  of  Christians,  and  that 
almost  every  denomination  feels  the  necessity  of 
supporting  colleges  in  the  territory  in  which  that 
denomination  is  represented,  shows  the  strong  and 
all-pervading  influence  of  the  religious  spirit.  If 
denominationahsm  in  Christianity  were  to  disappear, 
one  of  the  strongest  foundations  of  our  small  col- 


362      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

leges  would  likewise  be  removed;  but  just  as,  in 
these  United  States,  the  denominational  spirit  has 
developed  and  flourished,  and  has  become  a  marked 
characteristic  of  American  life  in  contrast  with 
European  life,  so  the  small  college,  inseparably- 
connected  with  the  denominational  spirit,  has 
grown  and  developed  in  striking  contrast  with  the 
educational  policy  of  Europe.  If  men  of  deep  reli- 
gious convictions  continue  to  cherish  such  con- 
victions, and  to  propagate  them,  they  will  find  it 
necessary  to  educate  those  who  shall  hand  down 
these  same  traditions.  To  do  this  with  economy 
and  certainty,  there  must  be  institutions  for  higher 
study  which  shall  be  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  the 
denomination  desirous  of  maintaining  and  develop- 
ing this  growth.  This  factor  is  as  strong  as  any 
that  has  been  mentioned,  perhaps  strongest  of  all, 
and  yet  this  and  all  that  have  preceded  it  find  their 
basis  in  another  factor — the  last  which  I  shall  pre- 
sent. 

The  small  colleges,  scattered  everywhere,  are 
but  the  natural  and  inevitable  expression  of  the 
American  spirit  in  the  realm  of  higher  education. 
The  universities  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  as  now 
constituted,  are  an  expression  of  English  aristocracy. 
The  universities  of  BerHn  and  Leipzig,  and  the 
gymnasia  of  Germany,  represent  most  fittingly  the 
German  imperial  spirit.  The  small  colleges  in 
Ohio  and  Missouri,  in  Iowa  and  South  Carolina, 
and  in  every  state  of  our  magnificent  Union,  are  the 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     363 

expression  of  the  democratic  spirit,  which  is  the  true 
American  spirit.  The  small  college  exists  today  as 
a  legitimate  result  of  the  working  of  that  spirit.  It 
is  as  truly  American  as  is  any  other  institution  of 
our  country.  The  American  spirit  which  has  created 
these  colleges  is,  after  all,  the  highest  and  the  most 
certain  guaranty  of  their  continuance,  and  in  this 
fundamental  fact  and  factor  the  others  to  which  I 
have  referred  find  their  basis. 

II 

Among  the  things  which  will  be  found  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  the  development  of  the  small  col- 
lege, first  let  us  note  the  development  of  the  high 
schools.  The  modern  high  school,  sometimes  called 
the  "people's  college,"  is  a  development  of  twenty- 
five  years.  Much  of  the  work  formerly  done  by 
the  colleges  is  now  being  done  by  the  high  schools. 
The  course  of  study  in  many  of  the  high  schools  is 
more  extensive  and  more  thorough  than  was  the 
course  of  study  in  many  of  the  better  colleges  thirty 
or  forty  years  ago.  This  course  of  study  is  hkewise 
stronger  and  more  effective  in  the  results  produced 
than  is  the  course  of  study  provided  in  many  of  the 
smaller  colleges  of  today.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
the  public  attitude  toward  the  high  school  will 
change.  If  there  were  no  other  reason  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  high  school  by  the  public,  reason  enough 
would  be  found  in  the  fact  that  without  such  work 
it  would  be  impossible  to  provide  teachers  for  the 


364      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

lower  schools.  While  much  of  the  constituency  of 
the  high  school  is  a  new  constituency,  a  consider- 
able portion  of  it  has  been  drawn  away  from  the 
preparatory  schools  and  the  colleges.  So  great  a 
degree  of  perfection  has  been  reached  in  the  work 
of  the  high  school  in  many  quarters  that  even  those 
/  parents  who  have  the  means  prefer  the  public  high 
school  to  the  private  academy  or  college;  and  by 
many,  a  great  incentive  to  patronize  the  high  school 
is  found  in  the  absence  of  a  tuition  fee.  The  require- 
ments for  admission  to  the  high  school  and  the  length 
of  the  curriculum  have  been  steadily  increasing, 
and  it  seems  quite  certain  that  the  end  has  not 
yet  been  reached,  since  satisfactory  arrangements 
have  been  made  in  many  schools  for  the  work  of 
the  freshman  year.  This  is  a  serious  menace  to  the 
small  college.  The  fact  that  the  equipment  of  the 
high  school  for  scientific  work  is  often  better  than 
the  equipment  of  the  college  which  confers  the 
bachelor's  degree,  brings  reproach  upon  the  college 
work  when  compared  with  that  of  the  high  school. 
The  preparatory  schools  of  colleges  in  the  West  and 
South  are  no  longer  crowded,  because  students  are 
able  to  secure  the  desired  instruction  in  the  high 
school.  The  influence  of  this  is  felt  very  keenly, 
and  officers  of  the  small  colleges  are  regarding  with 
considerable  apprehension  the  rapid  growth  of  this, 
to  say  the  least,  distracting  element. 

Another  thing  which  stands  in  the  way  of  the 
small  college  is  the  tendency  toward  specialism. 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE      365 

In  earlier  years,  when  the  entrance  requirements 
were  lower,  it  was  possible  for  the  student  to  give 
four  years  of  time  to  work,  the  aim  of  which  was 
general  culture.  In  these  latter  days,  when  the 
requirements  for  admission  are  so  high  that  they 
in  themselves  constitute  an  equivalent  of  the  college 
course  of  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago,  and  when 
young  men  and  women  are  unable  to  enter  college 
at  an  earher  age  than  nineteen  or  twenty,  it  is  impos- 
sible and  undesirable  to  hold  the  student  to  four 
years  of  general  work.  Already  the  tendency  to 
speciahze  is  seen  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  year  Mil*" 
of  college  work.  This  is  a  natural  result  of  the 
privilege  of  election,  and  also  a  necessary  result  flow- 
ing from  the  large  number  of  subjects  offered  in  the 
curriculum.  The  small  college  does  not  furnish  the 
opportunity  to  follow  out  this  tendency,  and  in  the 
case  of  many  students  a  longer  period  than  is  really 
necessary  is  spent  on  subjects  which  sustain  no  par- 
ticular relation  to  the  future  work  of  the  student.  It 
is  easy  to  see  the  great  disadvantage  under  which 
the  student  works  when  brought  into  touch  with 
his  professional  studies.  In  many  professions  it  is  » 
essential  that  the  technical  work  of  the  profession  ! 
be  taken  up  before  the  age  of  physical  and  mental 
flexibihty  has  passed,  and  especially  in  lines  of  sci- 
entific work  the  small  college  is  unable  to  meet  the  - 
demand  made  upon  it.  / 

The  whole  tendency  toward  specialism,  there^ 
fore,  even  when  held  within  reasonable  and  legiti- 


366      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

mate  bounds,  is  a  movement  with  which  the  small 
college  finds  difficulty  in  keeping  pace,  the  more  so 
because  it  is  evidently  not  justified  in  providing 
instruction  in  this  or  that  special  line  of  work,  when 
the  number  of  its  students  interested  in  such  sub- 
jects is  so  small.     Instruction  higher  than  that  of   i 
an  exceedingly  elementary  character  may  not  be 
provided  in  a  great  majority  of  subjects  to  advantage,   / 
if  the  college  has  a  smaller  attendance  than  150 
students;  and  yet  of  the  480  colleges  and  univer- 
sities in  the  United  States,  about  160,  or  one- third,  . 
belong  to  this  class — that  is,  160  colleges  have  less/ 
than  150  students  each.  ' 

As  has  been  said,  by  far  the  larger  number  of 
our  smaller  colleges  have  had  their  origin  in  the 
religious  spirit.  In  many  of  these  even  today  the 
spirit  is  not  simply  religious,  nor  indeed  simply 
Christian — it  is  the  sectarian  spirit.  Even  from 
New  England  one  not  infrequently  hears  the  cry 
from  denominational  bosses  that  the  denomina- 
tional college  must  be  supported,  its  halls  must  be 
filled  by  students  from  the  f amihes  of  those  belong- 
ing to  the  denomination,  and  the  denominational 
ideas  must  be  propagated,  or  dishonor  is  shown 
the  founders  of  the  institution  and  the  denomina- 
tion of  which  it  is  a  representative.  But,  on  the 
whole,  the  sectarian  idea  in  religion  is  disappearing; 
except  in  certain  sections,  a  broader  spirit  prevails, 
and  sectarianism  in  education  is  destined  to  die 
within  the  next  half  century  or  so.    In  this  struggle 


\ 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE      367 

against  sectarianism  the  colleges  everywhere  take 
the  lead,  and  one  need  only  study  the  history  of 
educational  institutions  during  the  last  quarter  of 
a  century  to  see  how  one  institution  after  another 
has  quietly  passed  out  from  under  ecclesiastical 
control;  and  how  one  institution  after  another  has 
gradually,  but  surely,  thrown  off  the  shackles  of 
the  sectarian  spirit.  If  now  these  colleges  have  in 
themselves  strength  to  endure  the  struggle,  they  will 
be  stronger  and  better  institutions  when  the  struggle 
has  passed.  But  many  of  them  are  so  closely 
identified  with  the  sect  whose  teachings  they  were 
established  to  promulgate,  that  with  the  gradual 
disappearance  of  the  sectarian  spirit  there  remains 
no  longer  good  ground  for  their  existence,  and  we 
see  them  steadily  losing  the  place  which  they  once 
occupied  and  taking  a  lower  position;  in  some  cases, 
indeed,  entirely  disappearing.  This  is  especially 
true  when,  on  account  of  the  rivalry  between  differ- 
ent sects,  more  institutions  have  been  crowded  into 
a  particular  territory  than  the  territory  could  pos- 
sibly support.  Death  in  these  cases  is  of  course  a 
blessing — not  only  to  the  institutions  that  have 
died,  but  to  the  world  about  them. 

With  the  gradual  weakening  of  this  narrow  reli- 
gious spirit — often  confounded  with  the  denomina- 
tional spirit,  but  indeed  something  entirely  separate 
therefrom — a  great  source  of  power  and  strength 
which  has  hitherto  lent  support  to  the  building  up 
of  the  small  college  will  be  removed.    Here,  then, 


368      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

A,j  £/(Iij<iA is  a  further  serious  menace  to  the  future  of  many 
I    ^  .   I  institutions  of  this  class. 

The  professional  schools  with  low  requirements 
for  admission  attract  many  students  who  might 
otherwise  take  a  college  course.  This  multiplica- 
tion of  medical  schools  and  law  schools  of  a  low 
grade  is  one  of  the  greatest  evils  in  connection  with 
educational  work.  It  is  an  evil  which  seems  to  be 
increasing,  and  one  which,  in  many  sections  of  the 
country,  is  encouraged  for  poHtical  reasons  by  our 
legislators. 

Of  an  entirely  different  character  is  the  policy, 
adopted  in  many  institutions,  of  allowing  the  college 
senior  to  substitute  for  regular  college  work  the  first 
year  of  the  professional  school.  This  concession, 
brought  about  because  of  the  feehng  that  men  must 
enter  the  professional  schools  at  an  earher  age  than 
has  been  the  custom,  is  a  distinct  blow  at  the  small 
college,  where  no  such  connection  with  the  pro- 
fessional school  exists,  and  where,  consequently, 
such  concession  cannot  be  granted.  The  relation- 
ship of  college  training  to  the  training  of  the  pro- 
fessional school  is  as  yet  indefinitely  formulated, 
but  the  facts  already  in  evidence  show  that  the 
whole  tendency  of  the  development  of  professional 
work  is  antagonistic  to  the  work  of  the  small  college. 
Men  have  come  to  see  that  in  all  of  the  courses 
directly  preparatory  to  a  professional  training, 
and  indeed  in  many  of  the  technical  courses  included 
in  that  training,  there  is  a  culture  as  large  and 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE      369 

strong  and  uplifting  as  in  any  subject  to  which  the 
student  might  devote  himself;  and,  besides,  it  is 
evident  that  in  work  bearing  directly  upon  one's 
life-work  the  student  has  a  stronger  motive  and  a 
deeper  interest  than  he  would  have  in  some  subject 
the  significance  of  which  he  himself  did  not  appre- 
ciate. The  problem  of  correlating  college  and 
professional  training  is  one  toward  the  solution  of 
which  many  minds  are  turning,  and  from  the  study 
of  which  much  good  may  be  expected  in  the  years 
that  are  to  come.  But  in  every  case  it  will  be  found 
that  serious  encroachment  is  being  made  by  the 
professional  schools  on  the  territory  of  the  college. 
Closely  associated  with  this  development  of 
the  professional  school  is  the  development  of  the 
university  idea.  As  has  already  been  said,  this 
idea  was  scarcely  in  existence  twenty-five  years 
ago.  But  now  that  the  spirit  has  taken  root,  great 
things  are  to  be  expected,  and  during  the  next 
quarter  of  a  century  important  strides  forward 
will  be  made  in  many  centers  of  intellectual  influ- 
ence. To  a  considerable  extent  the  constituency 
of  the  university  will  be  a  new  constituency.  In 
large  measure,  however,  this  constituency  is  drawn 
directly  from  the  field  of  the  small  college.  The 
phenomenal  increase  in  numbers  of  the  larger 
institutions  of  learning  within  the  past  ten  years 
is  an  indication  of  what  is  to  be  expected  in  the  future. 
The  same  spirit  which  today  draws  men  to  the  city, 
where  special  advantages  are  thought  to  exist,  and 


370      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

where  special  privileges  may  be  secured,  will  draw 
men  to  the  larger  institutions,  with  their  larger 
libraries,  their  better  equipped  laboratories,  and 
their  more  direct  contact  with  life  and  modern 
.  civiHzation.  With  this  tendency  the  small  college 
must  battle.  But,  however  strong  the  effort 
made,  in  the  end  the  larger  institutions  will  prevail, 
and  the  smaller  institutions  suffer. 

One  of  the  more  important,  perhaps  the  most 
important,  of  the  difficulties  with  which  the  small 
college  must  contend  is  that  of  securing  the 
-•rstiQngest  men  to  do  work  upon  the  salary  that 
can  be  offered ;  and,  further,  its  inability  to  hold 
such  men  if  once  they  have  been  secured.  This 
leads  to  the  adoption  of  one  of  two  policies.  In 
some  cases  the  college  is  wise  enough  to  be  satisfied 
with  having  young  instructors  who  are  strong 
and  vigorous,  even  with  the  consciousness  that 
vacancies  will  constantly  occur,  and  thus  innumer- 
able changes  be  made.  The  disadvantage  of  this 
policy  is,  of  course,  the  lack  of  continuity  in  the 
spirit  of  the  institution;  but  in  any  case  it  is  an 
infinitely  better  policy  than  the  other  one,  in  accord- 
ance with  which  men  of  second-  or  third-  or  even 
fourth-rate  ability  are  employed,  with  the  feeling 
that  no  other  institution  will  cause  trouble  by  call- 
ing away  the  members  of  the  staff.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  larger  institution  is  able,  not  only  to  select 
the  strongest  men  and  to  pay  them  salaries  which 
will   make   them   satisfied   to   remain   indefinitely, 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     371 

but  also  to  employ  younger  men,  even  at  a  lower 
salary  than  is  paid  by  the  small  colleges,  because 
the  younger  men  see  that  there  is  always  oppor- 
tunity ahead.  The  women's  college,  even  when  a 
large  one,  labors  under  this  same  difficulty,  because 
the  strongest  men  will  not  consent  to  devote  their 
lives  to  work  in  a  women's  college.  This  is  a  serious 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  small  college,  and  one 
the  difficulties  of  which  increase  every  year. 

The  habit  of  moving  from  one  institution  to 
another  is  beginning  to  gain  ground.  This  is  in 
some  sense  in  imitation  of  the  German  custom, 
and  when  thoroughly  considered  it  is  a  custom  the 
advantages  of  which  cannot  be  denied.  Hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  students,  I  might  perhaps  say  thou- 
sands, find  it  to  their  advantage,  for  one  reason 
or  another,  to  spend  a  portion  of  their  college  life 
in  one  institution  and  another  portion  in  another. 
An  examination  of  several  hundreds  of  these 
cases  shows  that  in  nine  out  of  ten  cases  it  is  a 
migration  from  the  small  college  to  the  larger 
one.  Impelled  by  a  desire  to  go  out  into  the 
larger  world,  led  by  the  reputation  of  some 
great  teacher  or  investigator,  driven  perhaps  by 
the  necessity  of  earning  his  livelihood,  or  forced  by 
reason  of  the  removal  of  the  family  home,  the 
student  finds  his  way  to  the  university  and  finishes 
the  work  begun  in  the  small  college.  Migration 
from  the  large  to  the  small  college,  however,  is  com- 
paratively rare.     This  is  an  index  of  the  situation. 


372      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

and  points  conclusively  to  a  tendency  from  the 
development  of  which  greater  embarrassment  will 
fall  to  the  lot  of  the  small  college  in  the  future  than 
ever  yet  in  the  past. 

The  source  of  greatest  trouble  to  many  of  our 
small  colleges  in  the  South,  and  especially  in  the 
western  states,  is  the  state  university.  Slowly  the 
influence  of  this  institution  has  gained  ground, 
until  in  some  states  it  has  become  almost  impossible 
for  the  colleges  to  continue  their  work  with  satis- 
faction. So  strong  has  the  antagonism  come  to 
be  that  in  more  than  one  state  the  smaller  colleges 
have  joined  in  an  aUiance,  the  object  of  which  is 
to  meet  the  rapid  encroachments  of  the  state  institu- 
tion. In  the  whole  Mississippi  valley  there  are  not 
more  than  two  or  three  non-state  institutions  which 
today  do  not  stand  in  actual  fear  of  the  state  institu- 
tions. The  explanation  of  this  is  clear.  With  a 
political  influence  which  naturally  lends  itself  to 
the  state  institution;  with  the  large  number  of 
alumni  occupying  the  chief  positions  as  principals 
and  teachers  in  high  schools;  with  no  tuition  fee, 
because  provision  has  been  made  by  the  state,  and 
instruction  is  offered  free;  with  excellent  facilities 
for  work  in  nearly  every  line;  with  fully  equipped 
laboratories,  and  with  libraries  far  more  complete 
than  any  ordinary  college  can  ever  hope  to  possess, 
the  state  university  presents  an  inducement  to  the 
prospective  student  which  the  smaller  college  cannot 
under  any  circumstances  duplicate. 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     373 

A  great  outcry  has  always  been  made  against 
the  state  university  that  its  tendencies  were  anti- 
Christian,  and  that  its  students  were  under  influ- 
ences many  of  which  were  evil  and  powerful;  but 
a  careful  study  of  these  institutions  shows  that  the 
facts  do  not  support  these  charges.  In  many,  if 
not  in  all,  of  the  state  universities  there  is  culti- 
vated a  deep  religious  spirit,  and  the  Christian  activ- 
ity and  interest  in  Bible  study  are  greater  by  far  in 
proportion  than  in  some  of  the  smaller  colleges 
which  are  under  denominational  control.  This 
fact  is  coming  to  be  more  and  more  largely  appre- 
ciated, and  with  the  appreciation  of  it  there  will  come 
a  still  larger  shrinkage  of  the  constituency  of  the 
small  college.  There  have  come  to  me  within  one 
week  letters  from  the  presidents  of  three  colleges 
in  a  single  state  asking  for  aid  in  securing  the  prin- 
cipalship  of  a  high  school  in  the  city  of  Chicago 
or  in  its  vicinity.  The  request  was  made  upon  the 
ground  that  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  continue 
the  struggle  of  building  up  a  college  when  the 
adverse  influences  were  so  many  and  so  strong.  It 
is  an  important  fact  that  in  some  states  the  influence 
of  the  state  institutions  has  been  so  great  as  actually 
to  prevent  the  organization  of  any  considerable 
number  of  small  colleges.  I  do  not  at  this  point  say 
whether  this  condition  of  things  is  upon  the  whole 
favorable  or  unfavorable  to  the  general  cause  of 
education.  I  merely  cite  it  as  an  example  of  what 
the  small  colleges  may  expect  in  the  future  when  the 


f 


374      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

state  institutions  in  their  vicinity  shall  have  become 
stronger  and  more  powerful. 

But,  after  all,  the  greatest  difficulty  of  the  small 
college  is  its  lack  of  means  with  which  to  do  the 
work  demanded  in  these  days  of  modern  methods, 
the  methods  of  the  Kbrary  and  the  laboratory. 
The  number  of  institutions  called  colleges  with  an 
endowment  of  less  than  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  is  appallingly  large,  and  yet  today  the  income 
of  an  endowment  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
may  be  reckoned  at  only  four  or  five  per  cent.  How 
much  opportunity  does  this  afford  for  furnishing 
instruction  of  a  higher  grade?  It  should  be  re- 
membered that,  as  has  been  already  shown,  only 
66  per  cent,  of  all  the  colleges  and  universities 
have  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  students. 
This  total  income  is  scarcely  sufficient  to  pay  the 
salaries  of  three  or  four  men;  and  yet  out  of  it  must 
be  paid  expenditures  for  administration,  for  fuel 
and  light,  for  circulars  and  catalogues,  for  expenses 
of  every  kind.  How  is  it  possible  to  do  adequate 
work  ?  A  well-equipped  academy  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty  students  cannot  be  conducted  in  these 
days  for  less  than  forty  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
The  cost  per  capita  of  instruction  furnished  the 
high-school  students  in  some  of  our  cities,  even 
where  the  classes  are  crowded,  exceeds  the  average 
cost  per  capita  of  the  instruction  furnished  in  many 
of  our  colleges.  The  demands  of  modern  methods 
have  quadrupled  the  difficulty  in  this  respect.     So 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE      375 

long  as  the  curriculum  could  be  restricted  in  large 
measure  to  the  study  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathe- 
matics, no  great  cost  was  incurred  for  equipment; 
but  with  the  introduction  of  work  in  history,  political 
economy,  and  political  science  the  requirements  for 
books  and  periodicals  is  very  great.  With  the 
introduction  of  laboratory  work  in  the  various 
sciences  the  expenditures  required  for  laboratories 
and  for  equipment  are  very  great.  Without  money 
these  demands  cannot  be  met,  and  yet  without 
meeting  the  demands  of  the  present  age  our  colleges 
all  over  the  land  are  graduating  students  who  are 
impressed  with  the  behef  that  they  have  been  edu- 
cated in  accordance  with  modern  ideas.  An 
institution  consists  of  the  men  who  make  up  the 
faculty,  of  the  buildings,  and  of  the  equipment. 
These,  however,  can  be  obtained  and  maintained 
only  with  resources  of  a  liberal  character. 

These,  then,  are  some  of  the  difficulties  which' 
confront  those  who  are  responsible  for  the  main- 
tenance and  development  of  the  small  college. 

Ill 

We  com_e  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  changes 
affecting  the  small  colleges  which  may  be  expected 
and  are  to  be  desired.  First  among  these  will  be 
the  strengthening  of  some.  The  laws  of  institu- 
tional life  are  very  similar  to  those  of  individual 
life,  and  in  the  development  of  institutions  we  may 
confidently  believe  in  "the  survival  of  the  fittest." 


376      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

The  severe  tests,  to  which  the  Hfe  of  many  institu- 
tions is  subjected,  serve  to  purify  and  to  harden  these 
lives.  The  institution  which  has  survived  the  trials 
and  tribulations  of  early  years,  and,  by  this  sur- 
vival, has  justified  its  existence,  not  only  to  its  con- 
stituency, but  to  the  world  at  large,  deserves  to  hve ; 
and  its  subsequent  life  will  be  all  the  stronger  and 
heartier  because  of  the  difficulties  through  which  it 
has  passed.  The  purpose  of  suffering  is,  therefore, 
much  the  same  in  the  case  of  an  institution  as  in  the 
case  of  an  individual.  There  will,  of  course,  be 
fluctuation,  and  the  institution  destined  to  live  and 
to  exert  a  strong  influence  will  at  times  be  less  strong 
than  at  other  times,  its  chentage  less  numerous  and 
earnest,  its  standard  less  ideal,  and  its  Hfe  less 
vigorous;  but,  here  and  there,  as  determined  by  the 
needs  of  spiritual  life,  and  by  the  conveniences  of 
practical  life,  an  institution  will  gradually  grow  into 
strength  which,  in  the  face  of  even  the  greatest 
difficulties  and  disasters,  will  prove  invincible. 

The  small  college,  as  has  already  been  said,  is  an 
expression  of  the  American  spirit,  and,  unless  this 
spirit  is  fundamentally  changed,  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  the  time  will  ever  come  when,  under 
proper  conditions,  there  will  not  be  a  function  and  a 
mission  for  the  smaller  institution.  Whatever  may 
be  the  development  of  the  university  spirit,  however 
strong  the  work  of  professional  education  shall  come 
to  be,  the  need  of  the  other  kind  of  institution  will 
continue  to  exist  and  to  grow;  and  if  only  the  means 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     377 

may  be  secured  for  providing  the  proper  facilities,  the 
worth  and  standing  of  such  colleges  will  be  increased 
and  the  advantages  of  such  work  will  be  unchallenged. 
In  this  struggle  for  existence,  however,  some  of 
the  colleges  that  have  already  been  organized,  and 
others,  the  organization  of  which  is  in  the  future,  will 
be  compelled  to  hmit  their  activity  to  the  sphere  of 
work  known  commonly  as  the  academic,  or  prepara- 
tory, field.  It  is  probable  that  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  colleges  now  chartered  in  the  United 
States  would  show  that  at  least  20  or  25  per  cent. 
are  doing  work  of  a  character  only  Httle  removed 
from  that  of  an  academy.  This  means  simply  that 
the  term  "college"  has  been  misappropriated  by 
these  institutions.  Surely  an  institution  with  a 
I  library  of  less  than  a  thousand  volumes,  with  scien- 
tific apparatus  and  equipment  which  has  cost  less 
than  one  thousand  dollars,  with  a  single  building 
which  has  cost  less  than  forty  thousand  dollars,  and 
with  an  income  of  less  than  six  to  eight  thousand,  is 
not  in  a  position  to  do  college  work;  and  yet  it  is 
probably  true  that  more  than  one  hundred  so-called 
"colleges"  belong  to  this  category.  Forty  years  ago 
such  a  college,  if  its  small  faculty  had  contained  a 
few  strong  men,  might  have  justified  itself;  but 
today  the  situation  is  changed,  and  institutions  of 
this  kind  are  recognized  at  a  distance,  if  not  at  home, 
at  their  true  worth.  These,  and,  in  addition,  some 
that  in  times  past  have  been  more  prosperous,  will, 
in  the  course  of  educational  development,  come  to 


378      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

occupy  a  more  honest  position  before  the  world,  and 
nothing  could  occur  which  would  be  more  advan- 
tageous to  the  cause  of  education.  Strong  acade- 
mies are  needed  side  by  side  with  the  high  schools 
of  the  state,  just  as  strong  colleges  and  universities, 
founded  by  private  means,  are  needed  to  work 
side  by  side  with  the  universities  of  the  state. 

While,  therefore,  25  per  cent,  of  the  small  colleges 
now  conducted  will  survive,  and  be  all  the  stronger 
for  the  struggle  through  which  they  have  passed, 
another  25  per  cent,  will  yield  to  the  inevitable,  and, 
one  by  one,  take  a  place  in  the  system  of  educational 
work  which,  though  in  one  sense  lower,  is  in  a  true 
sense  higher.  It  is  surely  a  higher  thing  to  do  hon- 
est and  thorough  work  in  a  lower  field  than  to  fall 
short  of  such  work  in  a  higher  field. 

Another  group  of  these  smaller  institutions  will 
come  to  be  known  as  junior  colleges.  I  use  the 
name  "junior  college,"  for  lack  of  a  better  term,  to  ^ 
cover  the  work  of  the  freshman  and  sophomore 
years.  With  these  may  usually  be  closely  associated 
the  work  of  the  preparatory  department,  or  academy. 
This  period  of  six  years  is,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  a 
period  which  stands  by  itself  as  between  the  period  of 
elementary  education  and  that  of  the  university. 
The  work  of  the  freshman  and  sophomore  years  is 
only  a  continuation  of  the  academy  or  high-school 
work.  It  is  a  continuation,  not  only  of  the  subject- 
matter  studied,  but  of  the  methods  employed.  It 
is  not  until  the  end  of  the  sophomore  year  that 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     379 

university  methods  of  instruction  may  be  employed 
to  advantage.  It  is  not  until  the  end  of  the  sopho- 
more year  that  the  average  student  has  reached  an 
age  which  enables  him  to  do  work  with  satisfaction, 
except  in  accordance  with  academy  methods.  At 
present  this  consecutive  period  of  preparation,  cov- 
ering six  years,  is  broken  at  the  end  of  the  fourth 
year,  and  the  student  finds  himself  adrift.  He  has 
not  reached  the  point  when  work  in  any  of  his  pre- 
paratory subjects  is  finished.  He  is  compelled  to 
continue  the  same  work  under  new  and  strange  con- 
ditions, with  new  and  strange  instructors.  Not 
infrequently  the  instructors  under  whom  he  is  placed 
in  the  freshman  year  of  college  are  inferior  to  those 
with  whom  he  has  been  associated  in  the  academy. 
A  great  waste  of  energy,  time,  and  interest  follows  / 
this  unnatural  break  in  the  prosecution  of  the  stu- 
dent's work.  Nature  has  marked  out  the  great  di-  ^'-") 
visions  of  educational  work,and  the  laws  of  nature  J 
may  not  be  violated  without  injury.  My  firm  con-  1 
viction  is  that  in  time  this  difficulty  will  be  appre- 
ciated, and  that  a  large  number,  perhaps  even  a 
majority,  of  the  colleges  now  attempting  to  do  the 
four  years  of  the  preparatory  course  and  the  four 
years  of  college  work  will  be  satisfied  to  limit  their 
work  to  the  six  years  which  include  the  preparatory 
training  and  the  first  two  years  of  college  life.  The 
motive  for  this  change  will  be  found  in  its  economy, 
and  in  the  possibility  of  doing  thorough  and  satis- 
factory work,  where  today  such  work  is  impossible. 


38o      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

There  are  at  least  two  hundred  colleges  in  the 
United  States  in  which  this  change  would  be  desir- 
able. These  institutions  have  a  preparatory  school, 
as  well  as  a  college  course.  The  number  of  students 
in  the  preparatory  school  is  perhaps  a  hundred  and 
fifty.  In  the  freshman  and  sophomore  classes  they 
have  thirty  to  forty  students,  and  in  the  junior  and 
senior  classes  twenty  to  thirty.  The  annual  income 
of  these  institutions  is  restricted  for  the  most  part 
to  the  fees  of  the  students,  and  will  average  from  all 
sources,  let  us  say,  eight  to  ten  thousand  dollars. 
In  order  to  keep  up  the  name  of  the  college,  the  in- 
come is  made  to  cover  the  expenses  of  eight  years — 
that  is,  the  preparatory  and  the  collegiate  depart- 
ments. In  order  to  do  the  work  of  the  junior  and 
senior  years  of  the  college,  even  superficially,  where 
the  classes  are  so  small,  as  much  of  the  total  income 
is  spent  upon  the  instruction  during  these  two  years 
as  upon  that  of  the  five  or  six  years  below.  It  is 
evident  that,  even  with  this  disproportionate  expen- 
diture, the  work  of  the  junior  and  senior  college 
years  can  be  done  only  in  a  superficial  way,  because 
the  library  and  laboratory  facihties  are  meager,  the 
range  of  instruction  is  very  narrow,  and  a  single 
instructor  is  often  required  to  teach  in  three  or  four 
subjects. 

But  this  is  not  the  most  significant  fact.  When 
the  money  paid  by  the  students  of  the  first  six  years 
has  been  used  for  instruction  of  a  few  men  who  are 
working  in  the  last  two  years,  in  order  that  the  college 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     381 

may  continue  to  be  known  as  a  college,  there  does 
not  remain  sufficient  income  to  do  justice  to  the  work 
of  the  lower  years.  This  is  an  attempt  to  do  the 
higher  work  at  the  cost  of  the  lower.  Nor  are 
examples  of  this  kind  limited  to  states  in  the  West 
and  South.  More  than  one  instance  will  be  found 
in  the  state  of  New  York,  while  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan,  such  institu- 
tions abound. 

The  reduction  of  institutions  of  this  class  to  the 
rank  of  colleges  which  should  do,  in  addition  to  the 
preparatory  work,  only  the  work  of  the  freshman  and 
sophomore  years,  would  accomplish  several  results : 

1.  The  money  now  wasted  in  doing  the  higher 
work  superficially  could  be  used  to  do  the  lower 
work  more  thoroughly. 

2.  The  pretense  of  giving  a  college  education 
would  be  given  up,  and  the  college  could  become  an 
honest  institution. 

3.  The  student  who  was  not  really  fitted  by 
nature  to  take  the  higher  work  could  stop  naturally 
and  honorably  at  the  end  of  the  sophomore  year. 

4.  Many  students  who  might  not  have  the 
courage  to  enter  upon  a  course  of  four  years'  study 
would  be  willing  to  do  the  two  years  of  work  before 
entering  business  or  the  professional  school. 

5.  Students  capable  of  doing  the  higher  work 
would  be  forced  to  go  away  from  the  small  college 
to  the  university.  This  change  would  in  every  case 
be  most  advantageous. 


ix> 


382      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

6.  Students  living  near  the  college  whose  ambi- 
tion it  was  to  go  away  to  college  could  remain  at 
home  until  greater  maturity  had  been  reached — a 
point  of  the  highest  moment  in  these  days  of  strong 
temptation. 

The  substitution  of  the  six-year  institution, 
including  the  academic  or  high-school  course,  for 
the  present  four-year  institution,  without  prepara- 
tory work,  would,  at  one  stroke,  touch  the  greatest 
evils  of  our  present  situation. 

Directly  along  this  line  will  be  another  change; 
namely,  the  development  of  high  schools  into  junior 
colleges.  Evidence  that  this  change  is  already 
taking  place  may  be  found  on  every  hand.  The 
establishment  of  hundreds  of  high  schools  through 
all  the  states  is  in  itself  a  new  element  in  our  educa- 
tional machinery  which  has  disarranged  the  former 
system,  but  has,  at  the  same  time,  greatly  advanced 
the  interests  of  education  itself.  The  quickening 
influence  of  these  institutions  is  seen,  not  only  in  the 
increased  number  of  those  who  continue  their  work 
in  the  college  and  the  university,  nor  merely  in  the 
fact  that  a  larger  number  of  more  intelligent  men  and 
women  is  thus  contributed  to  the  various  communi- 
ties, but  especially  in  the  fact  that  the  teachers  of  the 
schools  of  a  lower  grade  are  vastly  stronger  and  better 
prepared  for  their  work. 

The  suggestion  is  made  from  time  to  time  that 
the  people  will  not  consent  to  continue  the  public 
support  of  these  high  schools.     But,  as  a  matter  of 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     383 

fact,  they  do  continue  to  support  them;  and,  more 
than  this,  these  schools  are  constantly  increasing 
their  requirements  for  admission,  as  well  as  their 
faciUties  for  instruction  and  the  number  of  years  of 
the  curriculum.  It  has  now  come  to  be  generally 
recognized  that  the  ideal  high  school  must  have  a 
curriculum  of  four  years,  and  in  many  sections  of 
the  country  this  has  already  been  secured.  In 
others,  it  is  coming.  The  next  step  in  the  develop- 
ment of  this  work  will  be  the  addition  of  one  or  two 
years  to  the  present  course;  or,  in  other  words,  the 
carrying  of  the  high  school  up  to  the  end  of  the  sopho- 
more college  year.  Already  this  has  practically 
been  accomplished  in  certain  schools  of  Michigan 
and  in  some  of  our  cities.  It  can  be  done  at  a  mini- 
mum of  cost.  Today  only  10  per  cent,  of  those  who 
finish  the  high  school  continue  the  work  in  college. 
If  the  high  schools  were  to  provide  work  for  two 
additional  years,  at  least  40  per  cent,  of  those  finish- 
ing the  first  four  years  would  continue  to  the  end  of 
the  sophomore  year. 

With  this  modification  of  the  high  school  on  the 
one  hand,  and  with  the  suggested  modification  of 
many  of  our  colleges  upon  the  other,  there  would 
come  to  be  a  system  of  colleges,  state  or  non-state, 
which  would  meet  the  demands  of  the  situation  as 
today  they  are  not  met.  Many  of  the  normal  \ 
schools  of  western  states  practically  occupy  this  I  O^f*^ 
position.  ----J   1^^"^ 

Again,  the  small  college  of  America  is  every-         ^^^^^^^''* 


384      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

where  practically  of  the  same  type.  So  far  as  the 
general  plan  is  concerned,  each  college  is  a  duplicate 
of  its  nearest  neighbors.  A  terrible  monotony 
presents  itself  to  the  eye  of  one  who  makes  any 
attempt  to  study  the  aims  and  motives  of  these  insti- 
tutions. All  ahke  try  to  cover  too  much  ground, 
and,  worse  than  this,  all  alike  practically  cover  the 
same  ground.  A  change  in  this  respect  is  desirable, 
and  inevitable.  This  change  will  come  partly  in  the 
way  of  the  estabhshment  of  colleges  for  particular  pur- 
poses ;  a  college,  for  example,  established  principally 
for  the  study  of  science;  another  college  estabhshed 
principally  for  the  study  of  literature;  another  for  the 
study  principally  of  historical  subjects.  The  prin- 
ciple of  individuaUsm,  which  has  already  been 
appUed  in  education  to  the  work  of  the  student  and 
to  the  work  of  the  instructor,  must  find  application 
to  the  work  of  the  institution.  The  idea  has  pre- 
vailed that  every  newly  founded  institution  should 
duplicate  the  work  of  those  which  had  preceded  it, 
and  in  consequence  the  colleges  of  our  country  are, 
with  a  few  notable  exceptions,  institutions  of  a  single 
character.  This  means  narrowness,  but  it  means 
more.  Inasmuch  as  each  institution  tries  to  cover 
the  same  ground,  and  all  the  ground,  the  result  has 
been  that  no  effort  has  been  undertaken  to  estabUsh 
a  school  which  will  allow  thoroughness  or  depth. 
The  college  that  has  no  endowment,  or  an  endow- 
ment of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  seeks  to  do  the 
same  thing  which  the  institution  with  millions  of 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE      385 

dollars  of  endowment  finds  it  difficult  to  accomplish. 
The  technical  school  with  no  endowment,  or  an 
endowment  of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  seeks  to 
cover  every  field  of  technical  work.  The  time  will 
come  when  institutions  will  cultivate  individuaHsm; 
when  one  institution  will  give  a  large  measure  of  its 
strength  and  energy  to  the  development  of  a  depart- 
ment of  history  and  poHtics,  another  to  physics  and 
chemistry,  and  another  to  the  biological  sciences, 
another  perhaps  putting  all  its  efforts  into  the  great 
field  of  electricity.  This  will  be  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  present  poHcy,  in  accordance  with  which 
the  most  poorly  equipped  college  announces  courses 
in  every  department  of  human  learning;  and  stu- 
dents are  compelled,  in  self-defense,  to  dabble  in 
everything  rather  than  to  do  work  in  a  few  things. 

Notable  examples  of  what  may  be  done  in  this 
way  are  to  be  found  in  the  case  of  the  splendid  work 
of  the  late  Professor  March,  in  philology  and  Anglo- 
Saxon,  in  Lafayette  College,  and  the  equally  notable 
results  secured  at  Haverford  College,  under  Pro- 
fessor J.  Rendel  Harris,  in  the  department  of  New 
Testament  Greek.  These  institutions,  lacking  the 
means  to  develop  equally  all  the  departments,  chose 
to  select  a  single  department  on  which  to  spend  the 
highest  energy,  and  the  character  of  the  work  done 
in  this  department  gave  tone  and  coloring  to  the  entire 
work  of  the  college.  In  these  institutions,  although 
colleges,  work  was  done  of  which  even  a  university 
might  be  proud. 


386      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

A  still  further  change  will  be  the  development 
of  a  spirit  of  co-operation.  It  is  only  within  a  few 
years  that  there  has  been  any  co-operation  worth 
mentioning  among  colleges  and  universities,  and 
the  co-operation  which  has  so  far  been  inaugurated 
is  of  an  exceedingly  superficial  character.  Enough 
of  it  has  been  worked  out,  however,  to  make  those 
who  have  tasted  it  desire  still  more,  and  the  few  steps 
already  taken  are  but  precursors  of  many  to  follow. 

It  is  not  enough  that  there  should  be  associations 
in  which,  once  a  year,  the  representatives  of  certain 
institutions  may  come  together  for  the  reading  of 
papers  and  the  passing  of  resolutions.  With  better 
classification  of  educational  work,  with  the  greater 
similarity  of  standards  for  admission  and  for  gradua- 
tion, and  with  the  variety  of  type  secured,  so  that 
individual  institutions  will  have  individual  respon- 
sibiUties,  there  will  be  found  a  basis  for  co-operation 
such  as  has  not  hitherto  existed.  This  association 
will  be  similar  to  that  which  men  in  all  divisions  of 
the  business  world  have  found  necessary  and  help- 
ful. Such  relationship  will  serve  as  a  protection 
for  all  who  thus  stand  together,  against  misun- 
derstanding and  ignorance.  It  will  secure  results 
which  no  institution  of  its  own  strength  could  secure. 
It  will  lift  educational  work  above  the  petty  jealousies 
and  rivalries  which  today  bring  reproach  and  disgrace 
upon  it.  It  will  mitigate  the  evils  of  competition,  and, 
indeed,  will  substitute  for  these  evils  the  blessings 
which  follow  honorable  and  legitimate  rivalry. 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE     387 

Such  a  relationship  entered  into  by  the  colleges 
of  a  certain  district  will  dignify  the  work  of  the  small 
college  and  secure  for  it  a  proper  place  by  the  side  of 
the  institution  under  state  control.  This  relationship 
will  be,  in  effect,  a  federation  of  higher  institutions, 
and  through  this  federation  it  will  be  possible  for 
each  of  the  interested  colleges  to  strengthen  its 
facilities.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  great  specialist 
in  a  particular  department  might  not  be  the  servant 
of  two  or  three  institutions,  to  the  advantage  of  the 
subject  represented,  the  colleges  thus  associated, 
and  the  cause  of  higher  learning.  Such  an  associa- 
tion, in  brief,  will  open  up  new  possibilities  for  the 
small  college,  and  it  will  secure  privileges  which  today 
are  far  beyond  its  reach. 

There  will  also  exist  in  the  days  that  are  coming 
a  close  and  closer  association  of  the  smaller  colleges 
with  the  larger  institutions  or  universities.  The 
great  advantages  which  will  be  found  to  accrue  both 
to  the  college  and  to  the  university  in  such  associa- 
tion will  bring  it  about,  for,  after  all,  institutions,  like 
individuals,  move  along  the  line  of  least  resistance. 

I  cannot  here  point  out  these  advantages  in 
detail,  but  among  them  will  be  included : 

1.  The  intermingling  of  the  teachers  and  lec- 
turers, those  of  the  college  doing  work  in  the  univer- 
sity and  those  of  the  university  doing  work  in  the 
college — the  interchange  of  blood,  as  it  were. 

2.  The  recognition  of  university  appointment 
thus  bestowed  directly  and  indirectly  upon  the 
teacher  of  the  college. 


388      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

3.  The  opportunities  for  special  investigation  at 
the  university  afforded  the  younger  college  instruc- 
tors. 

4.  The  special  assistance  of  many  kinds  which 
the  university  may  render  the  college  in  the  conduct 
of  its  work. 

5.  The  prestige  secured  to  the  degrees  of  the  col- 
lege in  view  of  reenactment  by  the  university. 

6.  The  loan  of  books  and  apparatus  to  the  col- 
lege by  the  university. 

7.  The  establishment  of  scholarships  and  fellow- 
ships in  the  university  open  to  students  of  the  col- 
lege. 

8.  The  assistance  rendered  in  the  selection  of 
instructors. 

9.  The  financial  confidence  created,  upon  the 
basis  of  which  larger  endowments  may  be  secured. 

10.  And,  in  general,  that  help  which  a  stronger 
agent  may  furnish  one  not  so  strong  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  latter's  work. 

All  this  points  to  the  development  of  a  system  in 
our  higher  educational  work.  The  change  of  cer- 
tain colleges  into  junior  colleges,  and  of  others  into 
academies,  the  association  of  the  colleges  of  a 
denomination  or  a  geographical  district  with  each 
other,  and  the  close  association  of  such  colleges  with 
the  universities — all  this  will  contribute  toward  a 
system  of  higher  education  (something  which  does 
not  now  exist  in  America),  the  lack  of  which  is  sadly 
felt  in  every  sphere  of  educational  activity.     System 


SITUATION  OF  THE  SMALL  COLLEGE      389 

means  organization,  and  without  organization, 
without  the  sharp  distinctions  and  the  recognized 
standards  which  come  with  organization,  the  work, 
however  excellent,  lacks  that  essential  element 
which  gives  it  the  highest  character  and  produces 
the  best  results. 

There  are  some  advantages,  perhaps,  in  lack  of 
system;  if  so,  we  have  enjoyed  these  advantages 
long  enough.  The  time  is  ripe  for  something  more 
definite  and  regular  and  tangible,  and  the  modifica- 
tions which  have  been  suggested  in  the  policy  of  sec- 
ondary and  college  education  will  contribute  in  this 
direction. 

As  a  summary  of  what  has  been  said,  I  shall 
append  these  few  sentences : 

The  small  college  is  certain  of  its  existence  in  the 
future  educational  history  of  the  United  States. 

It  must,  however,  pass  through  a  serious  struggle 
with  many  antagonistic  elements,  and  must  adjust 
itself  to  other  similar  and,  sometimes,  stronger 
agencies. 

In  the  process  of  this  struggle  and  adjustment 
some  colleges  will  grow  stronger;  some  will  become 
academies;  some,  junior  colleges;  the  high  schools 
will  be  elevated  to  a  still  more  important  position 
than  that  which  they  now  occupy;  while,  all  together, 
high  schools,  colleges,  and  universities,  will  develop 
greater  similarity  of  standard  and  greater  variety 
of  type;  and,  at  the  same  time,  they  will  come  into 
closer  and  more  helpful  association  one  with  another. 


390      THE  TREND  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

The  general  result  will  be  the  growth  of  system  in 
the  higher  educational  work  of  the  United  States, 
where  now  no  system  exists. 

The  future  of  the  small  college  will  be  a  great 
future;  a  future  greater  than  its  past,  because  that 
future  will  be  better  equipped,  better  organized,  and 
better  adjusted. 


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